Total Drama Paradise
by The Young Old Timer
Summary: With the former contestants too old, eighteen new sixteen-year-old campers revisit Camp Wawanakwa, which has since been cleaned up. Between the polar bear named Franklin, the elusive Bigfoot, and a sadistic host determined to bring the best ratings yet, these campers will be going through everything for the grand prize.
1. Chapter 1

The weather was warm, sunny, and a humid sort of atmosphere. And on top of a wooden, creaky old dock that rested above clear blue water, a man, young and vibrant, stood. He had long, black hair, and his complexion was complete with a strong, even tan.

He lifted off his sunglasses and looked at the camera. "Hey Canada! Chris McLean here, hyped for the new season of Total Drama, right here, at Camp Wawanakwa!"

From one of the cabins, another man, bulkier and clearly stronger than Chris emerged. He held a large butcher's knife, and his white apron clearly stained with brown and green and red, but he did not mind. Instead, he ran off towards the dock, to where Chris stood. "That's right," he said, "we're hosting a new season."

_Chris,_ however, was not pleased. He gave his coworker an annoyed frown. "Chef!" The large cook turned to face him. "You _promised_ to smile while saying that! It's in your contract and everything!"

"Firstly, it ain't, liar," Chef immediately retorted, his teeth grinding while saying that. "I paid attention to those papers ever since I found out I was to be working for free the first season. And second, you know I don't smile like that - that pretty, girly smile you have. I'm a man grown."

"But Chef, you _have_ to... If we have the first minute of this show being a large guy with red smeared all over his apron while running around with a knife, the viewers will think this is one of those third-class horror movies we watched when we were kids..."

Chef grumbled. "Like this is any better."

"Dude, _please_, say all that while smiling!"

"Fine..." Chef muttered. He once again turned to the camera, his eyes widening, and a clearly fake smile forming. Strangely, he looked scarier while smiling then when he was not. "We're hosting a new season of Total Drama, which we... affectionately named Total Drama Paradise!"

Chris gave an earnest smile. "Thanks man! That's right, you've heard it here, a new season named Total Drama Paradise will start production soon! And we need _your_ involvement to get this going! Just message us at our website, which is listed below, to be a part of Total Drama! That's right, you'll be at the historic site of Camp Wawankwa, where we've recently cleaned it up completely, making it mildly safe! Even Bigfoot came back!"

"Send in those applications today!" Chef finished, his smile having not diminished. "We're accepting twenty of you sixteen year-olds!"

* * *

**Rules**

_1. No, your character does not have superhuman abilities or powers. Believe it or not, Harry Potter does not exist!_

_2. This is not first come, first serve! I want the best characters possible, so make them quirky and unique! Yes, that means I want characters aside from goths and juveniles, and I also want flaws in your character. Flaws include things like being cowardly, arrogant, lazy, dumb, physically weak. Flaws **do not** include things like large groups, or soda, or bad singing (although feel free to include things like that in the "Other" category in the applications._

_3. You must be a registered user of the site for me to consider your application. NO EXCEPTIONS._

_4. This story will likely include some form of activity from you, the audience. I'll probably be making every episode into 2 parts, one on the challenge, afterwards there will be a poll on my profile, and the second part will be the actual elimination. Or perhaps I will do it by PM from the losing team._

_5. Adding onto number 4, if your character is accepted, I would like for you to actively participate in the form of reviews. This is largely to show me that you are still interested in the story. Although the audience will vote for who they want eliminated, I might override that to rid the story of characters from people who are inactive._

_6. Have fun!_

_7. I will probably be accepting 10 boys and 10 girls; that number is still tentative, however._

_8. I don't want to see any swearwords in your applications, nor reviews. Also, the password is "Bear."_

_9. I will most likely be making an aftermath special after every three-four eliminations, so even if your character is out, you might relax, knowing he/she would appear every seven or nine chapters._

_10. I do **not** want loners or people with ridiculous secrets. This is supposed to be an upbeat reality show, not a soap opera. Also, I do **not** want people with incredibly sad histories. Chances are that if a person were to have a really traumatic history, they would not be signing up for a reality show. However, having stuff like divorced parents are fine._

_11. Check the other reviews to make sure your stereotype is not already taken!_

Here is a list of suggestions for stereotypes:

The Insane  
The Antagonist (I might want 2)  
The Snobby Rich Kid  
The Genius  
The Artist (writer, painter, etc.)  
The Bookworm  
The Hipster (this one is gold if you know what a hipster actually is)  
The Bully  
The Musician (you still have to add flaws if you choose this, or any of the other ones, by the way)  
The Rebel  
The Hippie / Environmental Activist  
The Ghetto Guy/Girl  
The Geek  
The Gamer (although this might coincide with The Geek)  
The Overachiever  
The Ditz of a Blond  
The Jock  
The Gentle Giant (generally, with this character, a flaw would be stupidity)  
The Romantic  
The Bodybuilder  
The Sarcastic Guy/Girl

But you don't have to choose any of these at the same time.

**Application  
**

Password (check rules):

Name:

Gender:

Stereotype:

Personality (do **not** list; make completely sentences):

Short history:

Strengths:

Weaknesses (does not include fear):

Fears:

Likes:

Dislikes:

Strategy while playing Total Drama:

Reaction to losing challenges:

Romance? If yes, with who?:

Appearance (hair, eyes, skin tone, height, body shape, etc.):

Clothes:

Swimwear:

Other:

Audition tape (optional):

* * *

**Example**

Name: Nathan Everett, known as "Chips Guy"

Gender: Male

Stereotype: The Slacker

Personality (do **not** list; make completely sentences): Although he is not willing to cough up his real name (or at least, he doesn't share it), he's anything but mysterious. He often says out loud his thoughts, which does work pretty well for him, because Nathan isn't thinking of much at any given time. Instead, he just munches on a bag of chips, which he has at almost any given time. He does almost no work, and prefers to sit around.

Short history: He was born in a small town in British Columbia, Canada, and has lived there ever since. He doesn't share much else, however.

Strengths: Nathan is a pretty nice guy, for what it's worth.

Weaknesses (does not include fear): His laziness, for one. And doing any form of work.

Fears: Getting a job.

Likes: Sleep, chips, and doing nothing.

Dislikes: Work, either mental or phyical.

Strategy while playing Total Drama: Nathan hopes to "fly under the radar" and act only as a "yes" man to alliances, joining every single one offered to him, even if they contradict each other.

Reaction to losing challenges: He does not care.

Romance? If yes, with who?: No, unless there is another couch potato like him.

Appearance (hair, eyes, skin tone, height, weight, etc.): Brown hair that creates bangs above his forehead, blue eyes, pale skin, tall, and lanky.

Clothes: He simply wears a black shirt, and beige shorts. His shoes are white.

Swimwear: Blue shorts with red flowers on them.

Other: Nothing.

Audition tape (optional): Blank


	2. Update

Alright, I'm thinking of having the first two contestants that are eliminated as the aftermath hosts.

Secondly, I'm also going to have eighteen campers. Why? Because it's divisible by three. You should already know what that means!

But the real reason you've been reading... the accepted boys and girls:

* * *

**Girls:**

Clarissa Jenson: The Blonde (by angelofloveaphrodite34)

Monica Blaine: The Tech-Savvy (by Cotton Candy Luver Chopper)

Brianna "Bri" Chastain: The Theatrical (by Tsarvich)

Olivia Rivers: The Overachiever (by Riilustra - Your Sweetest SIN)

L.B. Reynolds: The Goth (by TheLadybug177)

OPEN SLOT

OPEN SLOT

OPEN SLOT

OPEN SLOT

**Boys:**

Adam Gregory: The Hippie (by Gumball2)

Daniel Kent: The Brawler (by LacedUp)

Sapphire Alessandri: The Antagonist (by Neko-Pedro)

Rickie Churchill: Mr. Relaxed (by V.I.Y.H.)

Dustin Rivers: The Mastermind (by Tallstar-182)

Maury Strait: The Klutz (by Munchlax Jr)

Jeremy White: The Optimist (by buddythecat)

OPEN SLOT

OPEN SLOT

* * *

That's right! Two more boy slots and four more girl slots! They're filling up quickly, so hurry up!

Naturally, there were a few people who did not get in, but I really wanted quirky characters - in the form of parodies of we see every day. Most of these characters do have those qualities, which is why I really like this cast, and I'm sorry if you're character did not make the cut.

But do not despair! You can always send in another character, but please, make them as unique as possible. When I create characters, yes, I do include elements from myself (the best way to make a realistic character), but please also make them original, and note an exact replica of yourself. You are probably not TV material, and having a character that actually represents you will also not be on the metaphorical TV screen that is this story. Last chapter I posted quite a long list of stereotypes you can build off of. All of those are excellent choices to pick.

And secondly, weaknesses! "Scared of heights" or anything along those lines is not a weakness, and this goes back to making your character realistic. Is your character emotionally weak? Physically weak? Dumb? Untrustworthy? Nobody is perfect, not even your character.

* * *

Of course, I am also looking for interns instead of campers. These interns will not have as big of a part per chapter as the other characters, but you can be assured that interns will be appearing in most chapters, since they cannot be voted out. Plus, it's simpler to become an intern. Anybody can apply, so feel free to fill in this application form:

**Internship Form**

Name:

Position (assistant chef, challenge tester, or Chris' personal assistant):

Personality:

Appearance:

Other:


	3. Episode 1, Part 1: Old Places, New Faces

**Episode 1**

The sun was shining over the pristine blue waters of Lake Huron, a delicacy still not touched by mankind. Overhead was an island, ancient as the earth it rests beneath, yet there was a sense of renewal to it as well. The birds chirped of new songs and whistles, the trees grew only taller and stronger, and resting at the foot of the island, there was a poorly-made dock, and two men: one small, and smiling, the other a gargantuan in comparison.

"Hey!" he cried out, smiling. He gestured for the camera to zoom into him, instead of the whole island. "Welcome, to Camp Wawanakwa, where history was made. Alliances were created and broken, relationships formed, and in the end, the unlikeliest of individuals, the underdogs, won the prize: bragging rights and proof that they were indeed better than everybody else!"

Chef rolled his eyes. "I seriously doubt any of them were here for bragging rights. They were here for the money."

Chris coughed loudly. He then took a look at Chef, and sighed. "Either way, we've got a whole new cast of eighteen campers, handpicked so that they would have just about _nothing_ in common."

"Of course, some of these maggots have a few things in common."

"Chef, the viewers get the point-" Chris retorted. He flashed another smile at the camera. "Anyways, in a few moments, the campers will be arriving. And to make room for aftermath episodes, we also be expecting only eighteen contestants, instead of the norm of twenty-two. However, we are also reducing the number of contestants for another reason that we'll be talking about shortly."

"All I'm saying is, these kids are all the same - scrawny bags of hormones trapped with skin," Chef said.

"Regardless," Chris glared at him. "We still have a show to run, and limited air time, so..." He pulled out a small Walkie-talkie, and spoke into it. "Bring the first boat in ... What do you mean 'it sank'?"

Chris gulped, and looked at Chef for comfort. Chef, however, was just as horrified. The former pressed his ear against the device once more. "Schedule to bring in the second contestant, then. Chef," he said, turning his head. "You do know the contestants and their names, right?"

Chef nodded. "That _was_ in my contract."

"Do you know whether a fellow named Saphire?" Chef nodded. "Can he swim?"

"I didn't need to know that; it wasn't part of my contract, fool..."

Chris once again gulped. "Fine. Let's just hope he can swim. More realistically, let's hope his contract covers death." And off in the distance, the revving of a boat was the only audible sound. Its shaped finally formed in the distance, and soon enough touched the dock.

Out of the inside of the boat's upper level popped a head. She looked around, expecting to see more people. "Am I the first one?"

"Yep!" Chris replied immediately.

"Well, technically, the first contestant's boat-" Chef began, but Chris elbowed him in the gut. He did not seem the slightest fazed by the hit, and glared at Chris. "Watch yourself, pretty boy."

"Aww," she muttered to them. "I was kind of hoping to be the last so I can make a stunning appearance."

"You can still do it anyways, to the camera," Chris suggested. This seemed to make her happier, and she nodded. The girl ran off the boat and onto the dock, facing the camera. At once, she raised her arms into the air.

"My name is Clarissa!" she announced, giving a smile. "Thank you, thank you," she, for some reason, began to bow, as if imagining claps from Chris and Chef.

* * *

**(Confessional Cam)**

Chef: "That's her 'stunning appearance'?"

* * *

But her entrance did reveal her facial features in much greater detail. Clarissa was fairly tall, at five-foot nine or so, and her lively blonde hair made itself into a bow. Her eyes were of an entrancing blue colour, and she only seemed to gleam in the sunlight. Most of her clothes - even her purse - was in pink, or a sister shade of it. She looked at Chef. "So, you're Chris, our host, right?"

"I am," Chris responded, and she turned.

"I think the other Chris has a better camera face than you," Clarissa responded, making both Chris and Chef sigh. And soon after Clarissa put her bags on the wooden planks of the dock, another boat came into sight. And on it, a male stood, looking at the island as the boat approached it. As the first boat left, his boat docked, and he stepped off.

"Daniel," he announced. Daniel was also tall, perhaps half-a-foot taller than Clarissa. The brown buzzcut and muscled body made him appear as though he was a drill sergeant, albeit far too young. His eyes were also brown, which strangely complimented his white-and-blue sweatshirt and dark blue pants. His left hand had a G-Shock watch, and his shoes were as well of a recognized brand: Jordans.

"Thought so," Chris muttered. "Anyways, welcome to Camp Wawanakwa, where you'll be staying for the remainder of this competition! As you can see, the camp _has _been recently cleaned up for the comfort of our campers, and now is completely safe for use, unless, of course, you go too far into the woods, where we'll be dropping Franklin the Ursus maritimus."

Clarissa and Daniel blinked, and simultaneously spoke: "What's that?"

"You'll figure it out soon enough," Chef said. "Chris and his stupid mind games..."

Daniel, in comparison to Clarissa, carried little in the form of luggage. A small bag attached to his back, filled with several items, such as tooth brushes, was all he had needed. "What do you have in there?" Daniel immediately asked - beside Clarissa were three pink suitcases that seemed to be ready to explode at any given moment. Clarissa simply shrugged.

"Is Pursus maritime one of those names you give to the really fancy European kids?" Clarissa asked, tilting her heads. "I don't think that's a very nice name to bring into Canada."

"Ursis maritimus," Daniel corrected her. "It's probably a rabid dog or something. Simple - we just stay out of the woods, and we won't need to figure out what it is."

"Good idea, Denny!"

Daniel blinked. "Denny?"

A third boat entered the dock while Daniel explained his name to Clarissa, who, at the same time, tried her hardest to commit his name to memory. The third boat carried another girl, this one not bothering to step off the boat and onto the dock. Instead, her emerald eyes kept focusing on her phone, and she continuously tapped the screen. She was short - much, much shorter than either Daniel or Clarissa, and her hair was also shorter than Clarissa's. Dirty blonde hair reached down to her shoulders. She wore a white dress shirt with a black sweater vest, coupled with a blue plaid school skirt.

"There's no Wi-Fi here, if that's what you're trying to get," Chris quipped. She looked up, and cried in frustration. **[1]**

"2013, and still no internet?" She looked around. "What's this rubbish? This place was supposed to be remodeled into a five-star resort. Hence, the Paradise in Total Drama Paradise."

"Inflation rates," Chris weakly answered. "And we didn't have a big budget to work with-"

Chef immediately interrupted: "Actually, Chris bought himself a gold-studded hot tub when he first received the budget, and then spent some more on a private helicopter, and then he-"

"Say any more and you'll be eating your own glob, instead of what we normally eat." Chef turned to face the host. Chris did not show any signs of uncertainty. Chef sighed, and kept his mouth closed.

"Do you know what Ursus maritimus is?" Daniel asked the girl, her hands still clutching at her phone.

She looked up to look Daniel in the eyes. "Thanks for asking for my name. It's Monica, by the way." She sighed. "And I don't know or care what Ursus maritimus is, because that's irrelevant to anything. But I'm pretty sure that's the Latin name for a bear. Let me text a friend for that... I think I have reception..."

Monica began to feverishly tap her phone until Chris snatched it away. "No contact with the outside world, or else you become disqualified! Didn't you read the contract?"

"It was in the terms of use section," Chef added. The host gave him a strange look, and Chef shrugged. "I needed _something_ to read while waiting for these sacks of meat to show up."

"That's ********," Monica immediately responded.

Chris only cringed. "No swearing either! Sheesh; it's in your contract! Didn't any of you read this?" Daniel, Clarissa, and Monica all shook their heads. "Teens these days..."

"No, you don't understand - I need my phone back!" Monica said, trying to take it from Chris' hands.

"Not until I actually explain the rules, which will be right after all of the campers show up."

Monica uttered another swearword under her breath, which was, fortunately for the editing crew, inaudible. She went to stand next to Daniel, and he noticed that her hands were particularly fidgety without the phone. A fourth boat parked in. It carried another male, this one with a red shade of hair that nearly resembled orange styled in dreadlocks. His skin was of an extreme tan, making it appear brown, which matched his eye colour.

As the boat stopped to let him off, he took off his tinted sunglasses to properly inspect the island - and each of the contestants, giving a casual smile to all of them. "Rickie, right?" Chris asked. He nodded.

Rickie wore a red full-sleeved shirt and blue cargo pants, and once again glanced at the island, and in particular, the campgrounds. "I thought you were renovating this place, man."

"He was," Monica quipped. "But there wasn't enough of a budget, after Chris' makeup."

"Stop complaining, at least the island is safe again, without any toxic waste, or any of that stuff lying around," Chef retorted. "Kids these days..."

Rickie gave Chef a quick glance, and smiled. "I'm not complaining - just disappointed - that's all. And it's not too big of a deal, so we can manage." He took his only bag with him, and stood beside Monica.

Chris turned to smile at them, seeing the bored expression on their faces. "Look alive, campers! We've only got... fourteen more to go!"

* * *

**(Confessional Cam)**

Monica: "And so he said, 'Look alive, campers, we've only got fourteen more to go' and I'm wondering how this guy can keep the smile up... I just want to get to the challenges, or maybe sleep. Just hurry up already!... I intend to make it to the end, and I don' want to stay here any longer than I have to."

* * *

A fifth boat docked in. Indeed, the boy on it was sixteen, but he looked much younger, into his preteens or so. He was shorter than anybody else in the crowd but a noticeable amount with dirty blond hair sweeping from side-to-side. He had blue eyes, which somewhat matched his aqua-coloured skinny jeans, and on top he wore an orange shirt.

"Alright kid, get off the boat," Monica immediately said. The boy did just that, and looked around. "Stand where everybody else is."

"But what about my introduction? I had it all planned and everything, so-"

"That can wait later," she told him and she guided him over to the rest of the campers.

He looked annoyed, but did not say anything, except mumbling his name: "Jeremy," he said. "My name is Jeremy."

"What. Are. You. Doing?" Chris asked, taking his time with each word.

Monica gave him a glare: "Hurrying up, that's what."

The sixth boat arrived after a moment of Jeremy talking about his home life, including minor things, like his pet cat, Buddy. The sixth contestant to arrive was a girl with skin so pale she almost resembled a ghost, straight and dark brown hair with red bangs, and quite a bit of black makeup. She also wore a black shirt and skinny jeans of the same colour.

"L.B., I presume?" Chris asked. She remained silent, but nodded her head a few times to indicate a yes. She carried a small bag with her hands, and set it down beside her.

"My name is Jeremy," the boy said, outstretching his hand. She looked at him suspiciously, and shook it after a few moments.

L.B. took a good glance at the island as a whole, and its natural beauty, but at the same time, she seemed unhappy from seeing the wooden cabins off in the distance, instead of the nicer buildings she was promised. "You're a jerk," she pointed to Chris.

"It's a budget issue," Chris immediately said. "We don't have the money, but just be glad that we still have the prize money available: one million big ones!"

Some of the contestants cheered slightly at the thought of winning, and others smiled. The seventh boat stopped by the dock, but only for a second. As another male was trying to get off, the boat suddenly began to speed up again, making him trip off and fall onto the dock. Jeremy and Clarissa cringed. He, however, was not hurt, and got up quickly, although he did look quite spiteful of the boat driver for doing that.

"Welcome, Adam, glad you could make it!"

He looked around, and smiled. "My, my, I'm quite glad you took the liberty of cleaning up the island - and to be honest, I like the campgrounds better than a resort, even if some may disagree with me." Adam grimaced. "That boat driver you hired does _not _deserve a job. Saw a dozen beer bottles on his desk while he was taking me here." He paused for a moment. "Just a suggestion, of course. You can always talk to him about it. Everybody deserves the right to work."

"Agreed," Daniel called out. "I've been trying to get a summer job for a while now, but nothing! That's why I'm here."

Rickie smiled: "Same here!"

"Well, I was talking about making a living, but I suppose summer jobs work as well."

"Wait, Denny," Clarissa said. "Why are you trying to make money off of this when you only have a one in twenty chance of winning?"

Everybody seemed confused by this. "Who's Denny?" one voice asked. A few wondered other things: "Where did you get twenty from if there are only eighteen of us?"

"Wait, by Denny, are you talking about - what's his name... Daniel?" L.B. asked. Clarissa seemed confused._  
_

* * *

**(Confessional Cam)**

Daniel: "And in that sudden attack of questions, I could not raise my voice loud enough to actually say anything, so I didn't."

* * *

Adam simply shrugged, not caring about that. He went to introduce himself more personally to a few of the contestants who seemed nice, like Jeremy, and also had a few words with Chris about the current state of the island. And then came another boat. And on it was a female, with strawberry blonde hair that flowed downwards, and she herself was quite tall as well.

"Brianna," Chris called out once people figured out who "Denny" was. She looked up right after stepping onto the dock.

"Call me Bri," she said. Bri wore a blue blouse with a white cardigan, jean-shorts, and sandals. Her glasses were rather thin, and her blue eyes wandered, looking for something - someone, perhaps. The person she was looking for was clearly not there, as she sighed and walked to where the others were.

"Are you looking for someone?" Rickie asked. "Maybe I can help you."

Bri only shook her head. "I'm looking for a friend - we both signed up for Total Drama. I guess he's not here yet. Anyways, I'm Bri," she said, outstretching her hand. Rickie shook it firmly.

"I'm Rickie." And so the two of them talked, passing the time, and others quickly started conversing among themselves.

The next boat scheduled was late, and by quite a bit. It also carried a girl, this one having brown caramel hair that reached her shoulder, and she gave a smile. "I'm Olivia." Her hazel eyes scanned the area, and she frowned. "I kind of expected to get scammed into believing this would now be a resort." Olivia shifted her eyes to Chris. "You're Chris, right?"

"In the flesh!... why are you looking at me like that?"

Olivia smiled. "You look different than the pictures I see of you in the tabloids I read. They usually photoshop you next to Chef, and write articles suggesting that the two of you have a secret romance."

"Liar," Chris flushed a bright red. "I'm in a relationship-"

"With Chef," she quipped, and everybody snickered.

"No! I have a girl back home and everything! And... I may or may not keep track of my publicity in tabloids, so I _do_ know that you're lying."

Olivia shrugged, and looked around. Everybody's eyes were on her. "Hotaku Daily is the one that suggested such a thing. I know they have a website where you can contact them, but it's pretty tough to find."

Chris flushed once more, and whispered into Chef's ear something inaudible. The cook immediately began running into the woods.

* * *

**(Confessional Cam)**

Olivia: She was gripping onto her waist, and laughing. "I don't actually read tabloids, and I'm also pretty sure that Hotaku Daily is not the name of a one anyway." Olivia paused. "Truth be told, I just wanted to get revenge on Chris for lying about the paradise thing."

* * *

A short while afterwards, Chef came back, and whispered something into Chris' ear. Chris' face turned a light shade of red. "I don't appreciate being made a fool of," he said sternly, glaring at Olivia.

She, however, smiled. "Neither do I."

And then another boat came. He was a tall, well-kept man, with jet-black hair kept in a fauxhawk, and a semi-muscular build. But, his body shape was not well-hidden by his black vest buttoned halfway upwards, and a black tie over a plain white shirt. His blacks slacks were kept with a silver belt, and he had brown shoes coupled with it. Indeed, he was clearly dressed too warmly for summer, but he did not seem to mind. "Meet... Dustin!" Chris called out.

His glasses had a black rim to them and of a popular brand name, just like his watch. L.B. spoke: "You overdressed. You really overdressed."

Dustin shrugged. He held up his bag, and smiled at her - an earnest smile, one that makes anybody feel warm inside. "I see that now - but I have other clothes here, which I will change into soon enough."

"No, but she's right," Bri added. "Your clothing must be worth a fortune - and if that shirt becomes snagged in a tree-"

He pulled slightly at the fabric of his vest. "It's cheap material, and I decided to look nice. Believe me, it's much cheaper than it looks. Aside from the Rolex watch, anyways. I saved up for a few months for that." Bri reluctantly nodded. "But, please, I don't want to have a particularly large introduction, as some of you may have had. I'm Dustin Rivers-"

Olivia called out. "I also have that last name!"

Dustin smiled. "Good to hear; but we're probably not related in any way, considering how many people have that surname-"

"Do you have an aunt named Mariah, by any chance? She's puffy... large glasses? In her fifties?" she asked.

He could not help but laugh. "Huh - I guess we are related. I'll talk to you later about that, as you might know some cousins I haven't met up with in a long time. Anyways, I'm Dustin." He paused, appearing to have forgotten what to say. Instead, he just walked silently towards Olivia.

Atop the next boat was another male, with curly brown hair cut short, blue eyes, and a scruffy goatee. Although a little on the chubby side, he did well to conceal it, and wore a long-sleeve purple shirt with dark blue jeans, black sneakers, and eyeglasses. Around his neck was a silver skull necklace.

"Hey, I'm Maury," he said, waving as he got off the dock. He carried with him a single briefcase - although it seemed ready to explode at any minute. "For my introduction, I'd like to talk - no, sing - about myself-"

Chef grunted. "Nobody actually did that. You'll be making yourself look like a fool."

Maury smiled: "I have no doubt, that in the course of this game, we're all going to be acting like fools, running around like headless chickens, all for the grand prize. Anybody not willing to do that won't win, I can tell you that."

* * *

**(Confessional Cam)**

Rickie: "That dude's actually got a point, I guess."  
Dustin: "Yeah... no. I'm not going to act like a fool, largely because I'm not brain-dead."

* * *

"And I want to make it far, largely because I need the publicity. I'm hoping to make it to the big screen. So, yes, I am, indeed, going to act like a fool."

Before Maury could begin his introduction, another boat arrived. She was pale as a ghost, red hair that seamless flowed downwards from the bandanna headband. She was tall, with long legs completely concealed by her red skinny jeans. Her shirt was blue, but mostly covered up by a leather jacket.

"Ladies and gentleman... Dorothy!" Chris announced. She took eyeglasses from her right pocket and put them on to give a glare at Chris.

"I told you already, my name is Faith," she said.

Chris scowled. "You didn't actually mention anything about having a weird nickname in your application, so don't act like I'm doing something wrong." He eyed the other contestants. "So many of you have eyeglasses. You need to preserve your eyesight; go outside and get a tan or something."

Faith immediately interrupted. "I have perfect vision. There is no actual glass in here," Faith said, poking her finger through one of the eyepieces to prove it. "I'm wearing glasses as an accessory before they become popular."

"Interesting..." one voice went out. A few people turned around to seen Maury stroking what little of a goatee he had. "Interesting indeed..."

* * *

**(Confessional Cam)**

L.B.: "So she's _that_ kind of person."  
Adam: "I honestly don't mind if she's attempting to separate herself from the rest of society because we're too 'mainstream', I suppose. Let her believe what she wants, as long as it's not hurting anyone else."  
Maury: "Kind of disappointed that I couldn't make my intro. But whatever; having a complete hipster to secretly make fun of is so much better! I've learned _so _many jokes after the years. I think I've got this: how do you drown a hipster?" Maury paused, waiting for the punchline. "Put them in the mainstream!... no?"

* * *

Rickie and Bri laughed. "And so the dude pulled out a knife on me, telling me to give him my wallet, and I'm like, 'Dude, chill, want to grab something to eat?' and he's just looking at me like, 'What?'" the former explained, while Bri nodded. "And then I'm all like, 'Come on, let's go.'"

"And then?"

"We found a hot dog stand nearby and had two each, splitting up the cost. I told him the story of another guy who tried to mug me named Tom, and we laughed, and we even went to see a movie the following day. And that's how I met my best friend, Sam. What 'bout you? Any stories you know?"

Bri nodded. "It's a long one, though. If we get the time, I'll tell you." She turned her head to face Chris. "Chris?" The host turned his head. "Are we being put into two teams?"

He shrugged, "Something like that, I suppose. And don't ask about choosing your teams either - I've got them picked out. But I need all of the contestants to be here before I announce the teams, and one bloke named Sapphire might not show up because his boat driver is running late-"

A hand sudden appeared on the deck, and everybody gasped, and most backed away. "I knew this island is cursed!" one voice said. And then a second hand latched onto the rotting wood, and slowly but surely, a man pulled himself up, red in the face, as he looked around to find Chris.

"That boat was _not _running late! It sank, and only because your driver was drinking and hit a rock!" he yelled.

Adam chuckled, "Hey, my driver was also drinking-"

The green-haired boy snapped his head toward Adam's. "I wasn't talking to you. Chris," he said, in a low, menacing voice. "Remember my name? It's Sapphire. You'd do well to remember that, considering I'll bring you up to court for not even sending a rescue boat for me!"

And just then, a tall, African-Canadian came running from beyond the campgrounds, dressed in a suit that has long sleeves, a white dress shirt under a red argyle sweater vest along with a pair of khaki slacks, black socks, and brown loafers. He also wore a yellow bow on his neck and a tweed flat cap that hides his somewhat large afro. "Chris," he said, running up to the dock, panting, with a coffee in one hand and a bag of donuts in the other.

"I brought the donuts and coffee, like you said. And I also took the liberty of calling up the rescue boat for the unfortunate loser who got stranded on a rock." He looked around, seeing perhaps more than dozen campers his age, but none quite as dressed as him. And then he saw Sapphire, soaking wet, and raging. "I - I take it you're the unfortunate loser who got stranded on a rock."

Chris gave him a quick glance, "Rupert, that'll be it for now. No, seriously, run. Sapphire looks like he's about to explode."

Instead, Sapphire gave a long stare at Rupert, then Chef, and finally Chris. "I'll see you in Hell," he pointed at the latter. "But before that, I'll also see you in court."

* * *

**(Confessional Cam)**

Adam: "Yeah, Sapphire did act kind of like a total jerk to all of us, especially me, but I guess he's just ticked off about getting stranded on a random rock for who knows how long. Or perhaps he's normally a jerk, and karma is working in advance, punishing him for deeds he hasn't yet done."  
Bri: "Yeah, if I had green hair, I'd hate myself too."

* * *

Nobody stood next to the drenched Sapphire, and as he moved in the middle of the crowd, everybody else sidestepped. This only made him grunt louder. But, another boat came, this one holding a girl dressed for success, like Dustin or Rupert (the former anxiously holding his bag of clothes, waiting for Chris to allow him leave in order to change into something more casual.

"Genevive, I presume?" Chris asked. She gave a casual nod to him, and gave a quick hello to him. Genevive was also African-Canadian, and like Dustin and Rupert, she too was dressed for success (although Dustin seemed eager to chance into more appropriate clothing for a summer day). Genevive wore a white-collared prep shirt with a brand name, sea blue sweater vest over it. She also had beige capri pants and gold-coloured shoes. Despite her sunglasses obscuring the other camper's view of Genevive's eyes, many still felt uneasy under her glare. She held her nose up, and did not dignify any of them with an introduction, almost as if she was better than them.

Genevive simply stood next to Dustin, undoubtedly because his attire made him look quite rich, even though he claimed he was not.

Another boat arrived by the time everybody had finished their conversations. Chris smiled; he could recognize the face easily, even from a small distance. "Oliver, how's it going?"

As Oliver looked around, he smiled. "I'm good. Wait... why are there campgrounds? Wasn't this supposed to be a resort or something?"

"Long story," Monica quipped. "Welcome home."

"Well, I, personally quite like it," he said, walking towards the others. He carried a small bag on his back. "There's a certain thrill of having nature, from diving down waterfalls, rock climbing-"

"Encountering bears and other creatures that want to maul you," Olivia replied, using the same tone that Oliver had used. "Apparently there's an Ursus maritimus, which is a species of bear."

"Yeah - encountering bears in the wild. Of course, as long as you run faster than the bear, or the person next to you, you'll be fine," Oliver said. A couple of the more "sensible" people sighed.

* * *

**(Confessional Cam)**

Monica: "He'll survive three weeks before getting crippled. I'm calling it now."  
Genevive: "The boy doesn't have enough sense to take a skateboarding helmet off when he's a dock. On an island. And he didn't bring a skateboard, so I'm assuming that's his fashion. I pity the boy for being uneducated, poor people truly are like cavemen. Only they aren't as fit."

* * *

Oliver was Caucasian, with blue eyes and short and straight black hair, most of which was hidden by the grey skateboarding helmet he wore, and of a medium size. He wore a black shirt covered with flame graphics, blue jeans, and white sneakers.

"Why are you wearing a skateboard helmet if you didn't bring a skateboard?" Jeremy asked.

Oliver shrugged. "I guess it symbolizes me, in a way, and how often I do stunts."

"I don't believe in labels," Faith commented. "Nobody can be described using symbols, or names, we are all too unique for that to happen."

* * *

**(Confessional Cam)**

Maury: "If that doesn't scream hipster, I don't know what does. I swear, when people say they can't be labelled, they actually mean, 'I'm a hipster, don't you know that?'"

* * *

And another boat docked in, almost immediately after Oliver's had left. The girl aboard was five-foot five, with light brown wavy hair that stopped at her shoulders. "Dana, arriving second last," Chris commented as she stepped off. Dana had light green eyes, and a mixture between being skinny and curvy, with some muscle at her arms. She wore a dark green tank top with "CHEER!" written in black, blue ripped jean shorts, and black vans.

"Hi, my name's Dana," she introduced herself, putting her two pieces of luggage down. "I've been living in British Columbia for the past year, although I am moving back to California once the summer is done. But for now, I'm a cheerleader, and hope to prove valuable to any team."

"A cheerleader, huh?" Maury commented. "Interesting..."

* * *

**(Confessional Cam)**

Maury: Maury sat there, praying. "Please be on my team, please be on my team, please be on my team..."  
Adam: "Honestly, I feel that Clarissa already fits into the cheerleader type; I think that this might be pandering to the male audience a little too much... but that's just my opinion, of course."

* * *

Dana stood beside the other campers, beside Sapphire, who had also moved there. She, however, was not aware of the menacing glances Sapphire gave her when she turned to look the other way. And Maury was on the other end of the crowd, but subtly made his way through, midst the "Watch out!" and "Excuse me!" that occurred, until he stood at the other side, near Dana.

The second last boat arrived. It carried a tall, lean girl with blonde pigtails and hazel eyes. She wore a black coat with a hoodie, underneath a yellow shirt with the thunderbolt symbol, and shorts. **[2]**

"Welcome, Armene," Chris muttered. "You're the second last person... so good luck with figuring out everybody's names."

Arlene was clearly not amused by this. "You should learn them first. My name is Arlene."

"Arlene, Armene, who cares?" Daniel asked. "At least _you _don't have people calling you Denny."

"I care." She glared between everybody. "Chris, you lied. You lied about the-"

"Resort, but the cabins are still nice!" Chris gestured towards the cabins in the main area, just off in the distance. "They are reasonably nice, I guess..."

The last boat finally arrived. Aboard was a boy, with buzzed light-copper hair with small sideburns, and jade eyes.

"Stephen, you arrived 'fashionably late'", Chris gave a smile. Stephen rolled his eyes. He was pretty tall and lanky, and wore a green baseball shirt, cerulean blue jeans, and black baseball cleats.

"Not my fault that you hire drunk drivers," he retorted. "I'm pretty damn sure I saw the wreck of one of the boats on the way here."

Sapphire grinned, his facial expression wicked. "And now I have a witness. Chris, when I take you to court, you'll be done for!"

* * *

**(Confessional Cam)**

Stephen: "Be warned, this place smells pretty bad, so I probably won't be using this anytime soon. But the confessional booth - outhouse - thing does have a certain... history to it, I guess."  
Arlene: "If I don't win, I'll probably hire a lawyer to sue Chris for fake advertising - but I'll win, so it doesn't matter."

* * *

"Two, four, six, eighteen..." Chris quickly counted the number of campers. "Alright, we have the whole bunch here! You know what that means?"

"I can quickly leave and get changed?" Dustin asked. Chris shook his head. Instead, the host smiled, and brought up a camera. "The dock would probably break or something if everybody just stood at the side. I say let's just take the photo in front of the cabins."

"Nonsense," Chris replied with the wave of a hand. "Here is perfectly fine, and Chef placed a beam under that side of the dock so it could support all of us. That's right, I'll be in the picture too!" He walked towards the crowd, and fit himself in front of everybody else. "Rupert, take the camera."

The intern sighed, and fiddled around with it. "I need to adjust the light settings... you know, it was an awful idea to put the beam there; it should have been on the other side, and the camera would not be looking at the sun..."

"Get on with it," Stephen muttered. "None of us care about the picture, most of it is Chris anyways." A few campers snickered. Chris turned around for a glare, just as Rupert took the photo. Chris yelled for a second picture, this one with everybody giving a smile to the camera. Chef, seeing no point in staying, went to the mess hall.

"Hold on," Rupert commented. He tilted the camera upwards. "I couldn't get all of Daniel's head in the shot, so I'll just stand back..." the camera went into a sudden flash, and he gave a cheesy grin. "Sorry." And finally, on the fourth try, he did get the picture perfectly. Chris reached for the camera, but Rupert held it back. "That'll be a hundred dollars for my photography services, in accordance to my contract you signed, which stated I get twenty-five for each picture you ask me to take." Chris appeared shock for a moment, and then began to grumble, handing over a single bill, and took the camera, wearing its strap around his neck.

Chris walked towards the campsite, with many of the other contestants following behind. Eventually, they made it just outside the cabins, and Chris stopped, and turned. "Now is when you'll know your teammates. And the surprise this season..." he waited for a dramatic pause. "There will be three teams of six! Gotcha there, didn't I?"

"Not really," Olivia retorted.

The host gave her a glare. "Anyways, if I call your name, stand on my right. _My_ right. Or your left, I suppose." He paused. "Clarissa and Daniel."

Daniel sighed, but Clarissa cheered. "Denny, we're even on the same team!"

Chris continued. "Rickie, Adam, Monica, and Arlene. All six of you are one team. You all have to agree to a team name, and your name must be a colour.

* * *

**(Confessional Cam)**

Rickie: "Man, my team's pretty sweet, I guess. I'm strong, Daniel - or Denny, or whatever - is strong, everybody else seems kinda smart, aside from Clarissa, but hey, at least she's nice."

* * *

Adam looked around, and the six of them got into a huddle. "Alright, remember," he said. "The colour we choose sets the tone - the culture of this team, so let's think this through, without any uncertainties-"

Clarissa cheered. "Team Pink!"

"Alright, that was pretty quick," Chris observed. "Alright, Team Super Duper Manly Pink, you are now one of the teams in this season!" A few cries of disappointment from Team Pink were mixed in with laughter from the remaining contestants.

"Why?" Monica asked, pointing at Clarissa. "We told you to think this through!"

"Too late now," Arlene muttered.

Chris could not help but laugh himself. "Alright, alright. If I call your name, stand on my left. Or your right. So... Dustin and Oliver..." Both of them shrugged, and went to their team's side. "Bri, Stephen, Faith, Genevive. The six of you are one team. Like Team Masculine over there," he motioned to Team Pink, "you all have to choose a colour."

The six of them huddled into a small circle, and Oliver spoke: "I don't know about the rest of you, but I don't really want to a shade of pink, or anything else similar. I'd say green, or red, maybe."

Dustin shook his head. "Green is more of a colour that people associate with jealousy, or envy. I'd say blue."

"I second that," Genevive added. "Actually, bad idea, if we're using colours to represent ourselves. Blue is typically associated with calmness, and in challenges, that doesn't really help fire me up."

"Why not gold?" Bri recommended. "It's the colour associated with success, and victory."

"I'd agree to that," Stephen said. "But I think green would be better. But I'm still okay with gold."

"So it's agreed?" Bri asked. Everybody nodded.

"Alright," Faith called out to Chris. "We'd like to be called Team Icterine." Chris nodded.

Everybody sighed, and one person cried out, "Why not just Team Gold?"

"Gold is too mainstream."

"Too late now, I guess," Chris shrugged. "Alright, Team Hipster-Styled Gold, you are the second team of Total Drama Paradise!" He looked at the remaining six contestants. "Alright, our third team. Sapphire, L.B., Olivia, Jeremy, Dana, and Maury. Please step forward and prepare to choose a colour."

As they stepped forward, Dana felt Maury enthusiastically touching her elbow with his. Maury continued to walk forward, but Dana stopped, disgusted.

* * *

**(Confessional Cam)**

Maury: "YES! My prayers are answered! Most people see me as gay because I do theater, but little do they know that I am actually quite the ladies' man. Dana is just playing hard to get."  
Dana: Dana sat there, praying. "Please vote him off first, please vote him off first, please vote him off first..."

* * *

"Alright, we all agree not to choose a stupid colour, like pink or a yellow knockoff, right?" Sapphire asked. "Let's choose blue."

"And why do you get to choose?" L.B. asked. "Black is better."

"I don't think black is right," Jeremy commented.

"Why not blue? I think it works pretty well," Dana added.

"I agree with Dana." As Maury spoke, Dana rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. "Blue is the best."

"Chris!" Olivia called out. "We'd like to be Team Blue."

Chris nodded. "Real original... real original indeed. Alright, Team Manly Pink, Hipster Gold, and Unoriginal Blue, please drop your bags on the ground. They're perfectly safe here." The entire cast did as they were told, and Chris moved ahead towards the mess hall.

"What's that?" Jeremy pointed towards a helicopter flying low above the island, and attached to its rails was a wooden crate, which was lowered into the forest."

"Inside the crate is Franklin, my Ursus maritimus, otherwise known as the polar bear. An endangered species, very few of them have seen humans at all, and Franklin is arguably the largest polar bear in the Arctic - or one of the largest, and he is by no means a stranger to humans. Not only is he starving at any given time, but he also has a history of mauling any and everything he sees. So, if you do see Franklin, you best run - but he'll run faster, just a heads up."

"Polar bears are endangered," Adam interrupted. "You can't bring it into a new land for your own gain" Chris shook his head. "I'm serious, it's against the law and you know it. I'm calling the R.C.M.P.." He took his phone out, and prepared to dial the numbers.

"No phones allowed regardless!" Chris snatched it away. "Seriously. But since we're on that topic, I'll go over the rules before we begin our first challenge that determines which cabin you'll be staying in. Firstly, no technology allowed," he gave a quick glance at Monica, who kept her glare on him. "If you are found with technology not issued by Chef or me, you are instantly disqualified from the competition. Secondly, we are legally bound to provide you with a minimum of two thousand calories worth of food each day, most in the form of Chef's glob, but you are also to receive a piece of fruit each day as well. Anything other foods you may want, particularly sweets, will be issued in rewards to challenges."

And speaking of challenges, what's the first one?" Rickie asked.

"That will be later. And thirdly, since there are three teams, the winning team will win both immunity and a reward of my choice. The team in last place will not gain a reward, but sends someone home, and the team in the middle gains immunity, but no reward. And fourthly, you are forbidden to plot with any of the staff members, no matter what."

"Is there an end?" one voice cried out.

"Yes. Fifthly, and you all know this already, one cabin is the boys of a particular team, and the other cabin is for the girls of that same team. You're not mixing that up."

* * *

**(Confessional Cam)**

Jeremy: "Wait, so if there are three teams, why are there only two sets of cabins?"

* * *

Now that we have all of that stuff out of the way, time for our first challenge!" A few contestants grinned as Chris announced that. "After this commercial break!"

* * *

**END EPISODE 1, PART 1**

**Team Pink:** Clarissa, Daniel, Rickie, Monica, Adam, Arlene

**Team Icterine: **Dustin, Oliver, Bri, Stephen, Faith, Genevive

**Team Blue: **Sapphire, L.B., Maury, Dana, Olivia, Jeremy

* * *

Author's Notes:

As you might have guessed, by the end I just wanted to finish this chapter, largely because it was pretty boring to write about. Blah, introductions are always boring. Next challenge will be pretty interesting, and I'm excited about the twist that will arrive at the end.

And of course, some characters did receive more screen time than others, but, I'm hoping to change that soon enough.

Of course, I do want to make this fun for you, the reader, so I'd ask that you stay committed with this story, in the form of voting (if I decide to have readers vote via PM) but generally reviewing, as that's the only real way for me to know that you are reading, and that the screen time that your character is getting isn't going to waste, when it could be going to people who actually do read. So, I do ask you, stay active. Whether you check every three days or something (I probably won't be updating that fast, EVER) or placing this story on your favourites or alert list, please stay up-to-date. If I notice a person has stopped reading this story, their character will probably be voted off, since it's not fair that a person who actively reads this story the day it updates would have their character voted off in the first five chapters.

Anyways, there are four villains in this series, which does seem kind of overkill, but at the same time, it does create quite a bit of suspense, as one of the antagonists finally comes on top and trumps the other three. Although I would be seeking to keep at least two "bad guys" for the merger.

And about sexuality: I'm assuming that if you did not mention your character's sexuality, I assume them to be straight. And I still haven't mapped out any character relationships whatsoever.

Some people sent in more than one character, but generally, I did choose only one, largely because people who send two tend to make it so that they would react mostly with each other. And I don't want that. I want the characters of different authors to react, so that's why I only accept one character.

Stay awesome!


	4. Episode 1, Part 2: Halftime is When?

**~Episode 1, Part 2~**

**Campgrounds**

"Welcome back, viewers!" Chris Mclean gestured towards the camera, and grinned. "We're back, with the premier of the new Total Drama Season-"

Stephen coughed loudly enough for Chris to hear. "We didn't actually go anywhere. You just said that we'll be going for a commercial break, and then you immediately said that we're back."

"As I was saying, we're back, about to start the first challenge!" He quickly glanced at the campers. Most were paying attention - or staring blankly, like Clarissa - but others were talking among themselves. Most, however, were tired, from the scorching sun. _What a day to begin Total Drama_, Chris thought solemnly to himself. "Today, I will be walking you directly towards the challenge site, but, we will normally be starting up the challenges at nine-o-clock in the mornings, right after breakfast. And yes, you'll need to wake up earlier than that for breakfast."

"Breakfast before nine?" L.B. asked, and then sighed. "Monster..."

The host shrugged, and looked at his own watch for the time: it was quickly reaching five in the evening. He needed to hurry up before it became dark. "But today, you'll be supplied with refreshments for the challenge at the halftime, along with dinner shortly afterwards. But yes, you need to get up before then. We're starting the challenge at nine, and no later."

"Wait, halftime?" Rickie asked. "Like the one in sports games?"

"Don't be ridiculous, what kind of sport has three teams?" Sapphire interrupted. "Use your brain for once."

Chris did not want to raise his voice after how much talking he'd done for introducing the campers. _But such is the nature of television, _he decided. "Actually, Sapphire," he gave the green-haired male a quick glance. "This challenge is, in fact a sport with three teams. Follow me." And across the campgrounds laid a poorly made trail of dirt and stone that extended into a small clearing into the forest. "Just ahead is what I call the Challenge Grounds. Naturally, it's where we do most of the challenges."

"That is an utter waste of forest land," Adam remarked. "The campgrounds already had a huge space just outside of it that touched the beach, so you could have had challenges to do with water. But, no, of course you would ruin the environment every chance you get. It's your sort of corporate greed that's causing global warming - why do you think we had so many scorching days last summer. This is Canada, for crying out loud!"

Clarissa raised her hand. "Well, actually, this island is sitting on the boundary between the United States and Canada, rendering it the technical property of both nations, and subsequently, has been disputed over since 1895, when Frederick Bernard discovered the island-" Clarissa began. Everybody gave her a surprised look, and she smiled. "See! I'm smart too!"

Chris outstretched his palm. "Hand it over." Clarissa sighed, and accepted defeat, giving him a pink smartphone that she hid in between her hands. "Anyways, yes, just across this turn is the Challenge Grounds. Oh, and Adam - this was cut down quite a while ago - perhaps thirty years ago. This is an actual camp that was quite prestigious."

"Seriously?" Olivia asked. Chris betrayed no signs of lying. "Huh. I thought you guys just did a really bad job of constructing the docks. And the cabins. And the mess hall. And the-"

"I got the island for a bargain, okay? Now, if all of you teens are done with your questions, I'd like to begin," Chris gestured to his right, which the trail led off to. There was a giant chain fence which stretched over a long, narrow plot of land. The grass that resided that was painted so that the area would look like an actual area for different types of sports to play in, but it was still covered in short grass. And across the sides were benches. On the closer end of the court was a basketball net, and every twenty metres beyond it was marked, until the other side of the field had the chain abruptly stopping at perhaps one hundred metres.

"And yet you didn't have the budget to repaint the cabins?" Stephen snidely remarked.

Chris gave him a quick glare. "Anyways... welcome, to your first challenge! I call this BasketBaseFootball, and relax - since you're all rookies, I decided on a fairly easy challenge. This is how it works..." Chris gave a smile, and gestured towards the basketball net. "Everybody will be inside of the chained arena, of course, but the three teams take turns in their chance to score points. The first team chooses a male to shoot a miniature soccer ball from ten metres outside of the basketball net. If he hits it on his first try, he gets a point. But if he does not, he will keep on trying to until he hits the shot, but a point will not be added to his team's score once it goes in.

And once the soccer ball goes through the hoop and falls downward, it's up to the batter, who will also be male, to swing his bat as hard as he can to knock the ball as far through the court - the farther he knocks it, the better. And, if he misses, the team gives up their rotation to the next team in line, and can no longer gain points. But once he hits, the ball will go flying outward, to the other side of the court. Then, it is up to the three females of the team to catch the soccer ball before it hits the ground, and once they do catch the ball, they will make a dash to the other side of the court - the one away from the basketball net, hoping to score a touchdown with it. But be wary, the six females between the other teams are looking to knock you down so you can't gain the full five points for making one hundred metres of a run.

If they do knock you down, you gain points based on how many metres you are away from the basketball net. For twenty metres, you get one point, forty metres, you get two, sixty metres, you get three, for eighty metres, you get four, and for one hundred metres - the touchdown, you get five. And once you are knocked down or score a touchdown, your team loses their rotation, and the next team goes. Once all three teams have had their try at it, it's halftime, and the guys will try to score the touchdown, and two of the girls will either shoot for the hoop or whack the soccer ball with a baseball bat. Any questions?"

* * *

**(Confessional Cam)**

Daniel: "Yeah, I have a question. What the heck did Chris just say?"  
Maury: "I was never really one for football - or any sport, for that matter... aside from bowling, of course. But anyways, I was never one for football because I never really liked the idea of other guys touching me up when they try to tackle me in gym class. I'm sorry, but that's not me."  
Sapphire: "So, for sports, I have an emo, theater geek, cheerleader, book nerd, and a real life Smurf on my team. How is this balanced?"

* * *

"Wait, so, does the batter get any points for hitting the shot?" one person asked.

Chris shook his head. "Nope! But he better hit his shot, and if he misses, or the ball hits the chained walls of the court before it touches the ground, then the team automatically loses their turn, so it is still pretty important." The host paused. "Alright, Team Manly Pink will be the first to go, followed by Team Hipster Gold, and Team Unoriginal Blue will go last. After that is the halftime, where you all can have a breather. Team Pink, choose a male to shoot the ball into the net, a male who will act as the batter, and the last male will sit this part out. The females of each team will find football protective equipment in the bin that's next to your team bench, which is clearly marked on the sides of the court."

* * *

**Challenge Grounds**

The males on both Team Icterine and Blue had sat down on their respective benches, while the women were getting ready by putting on helmets and equipment on their joints. The males of Team Pink - Rickie, Daniel, and Adam, were all discussing their roles for the first half.

"I can play batter, I guess," Daniel shrugged. "I'm kind of strong, as I've been practicing fighting for a quite a bit of time, even though I haven't played baseball too often."

Rickie laughed. "No way, I also practice fighting! But for me, it's Brazilian Dance Fighting."

"I was on my school's dance team," Adam laughed defensively. "What a coincidence!"

And awkward silence ensued.

* * *

**(Confessional Cam)**

Adam: "I was on the school's dance team? Wow, that was pretty stupid of me to say. But I realized just then, that I'm kind of becoming the third wheel among the guys of Team Pink. Rickie and Daniel both practice fighting, they're athletic, and good with girls, I guess, and then there's me - not that I'm incredibly pathetic compared to them. Only minimally pathetic compared to them."  
Daniel: "Rickie's pretty awesome, and Adam seems decent. I'm liking my team!"

* * *

"Anyways, you can bat, if you want," Rickie suggested. He turned to Adam. "If you'd want, you can shoot the ball." Adam paused for a moment, considering his options, and then shook his head, and silently walked to the benches. "Alright, I'm shooting the ball, I guess."

"You guys ready?" Chris asked, entering the Challenge Grounds. Rickie and Daniel both nodded. "How about the girls of each team?"

Olivia rolled her eyes. "You've been gone for twenty minutes; of course we're all ready." She, like the other members of Team Blue, donned a blue helmet and guards along her joints. She nudged for L.B. and Dana to follow her to the center. The girls of the other teams followed suit.

Just ten metres away from the net was a large red X, and a small soccer ball there. Rickie stood on the X, picking up the soccer ball, and prepared to toss it as Daniel held the baseball bat, anxious to hit the ball as it would make its way down.

"Girls of Team Blue, remember that the ball could go flying any distance of the court, so it's a good idea for all of you to space yourselves to maximize the chances of grabbing it," Chris reminded them. They nodded, with Arlene heading closer to the basketball net, and Clarissa heading out farther, towards the end zone.

_Thump thump,_ Rickie felt his heart beat as he prepared the shot. _It's only worth a point, and actually scoring a touchdown is worth five points. But I still need to hit this._ And so he bent his knees, slouching, the ball over his head. Rickie stood up, flicking the ball outward, and towards the net.

And to the guys of Team Pink, the only audible sound - the only one that counted - was the sweet sound of the ball making it down the net. Daniel reacted fast enough to swing his bat as the soccer ball made its way down, and wood met plastic, sending the ball spiraling upwards.

"One point for Team Pink so far! Alright, make sure you catch it!" Chris reminded Arlene as soon as it became apparent that it was landing near her. She rolled her eyes, but still managed to catch the ball.

She veered to the right in an attempt to catch it, and sure enough, it remained cradled in her arms. But, with a sudden turn of the head, Arlene saw both Olivia and Faith charging at her - different girls of different teams, but they were determined to keep her to twenty metres. She dashed to the left in an attempt to avoid clashing into the two of them head on, and managed to overturn both of them, who had trouble making such a sharp turn.

But it was not to last. Olivia was clearly running faster than Arlene, and she decided to risk the pass, rather than blindly hope that she could outrun Olivia. "Pass it!" she heard Monica shout. "Pass it here!" She turned her head to find her teammate, also donned in pink, and gave a rather sloppy throw that seemed just off.

Monica ran forward in an attempt to catch the ball, and stumbled slightly when it touched her hands, but she managed to keep it. _We need the five ponts_, she thought to herself, and charged forward, right into Genevive's direction. The snob clearly accepted the challenge, and held still, her knees bent, waiting to knock over - or be knocked over by Monica.

Genevive did not encounter that, however; at the last moment, in blinding speed, Monica sidestepped and continued to run past her, and she was off of the 60 metre line, still running at full dash. She could not help but smile, even after realizing that Bri and L.B. would not leave Clarissa enough space for the touchdown, and instead, she would have to run it herself.

But then she felt a sudden force against her back, and Monica went tumbling down, with Genevive's arms pressing against her upper back. Indeed, Genevive herself never fell to the floor, and instead cheered, until Bri joined in. After that, Genevive stopped smiling - as if the victory was her's, and her's alone.

Chris could not help but smile. "Alright, nice job Team Pink. Rickie hit his shot, and Monica made it sixty metres, giving you a combined total of four out of six possible points in round one. Not bad, not bad at all. Alright, guys of Team Icterine, you should talk about who you want as the batter and who is shooting the ball."

Dustin, Oliver, and Stephen were already discussing it before Chris mentioned it. "Truth be told, I'm kind of lousy at sports," Dustin said, giving an earnest smile. "But I'm willing to try if either of you don't want to." He turned to Stephen: "But I, for some reason, get the vibe that you play a little baseball. I don't know, it's just a feeling I'm getting."

Stephen nodded. "I do, for a fact. I guess I'll bat for the team. But if I screw up, know that it's your fault, and not mine."

"I can shoot the ball, I guess, or if you want to-" Oliver began, until Dustin shook his head.

"No, no, I'm afraid I haven't been exposed to much basketball when I play sports. Where I live, we most play football."

* * *

**(Confessional Cam)**

Stephen: "Olive seems pretty cool. Dustin seems like a really nice guy, somebody you'd want to know forever. He's that nice. But the question is whether he's acting nice, or he's genuine."  
Dustin: "Naturally, I am better at football than baseball or basketball, but this challenge relies heavily on both of the latter sports, so if I would screw up on either, it's on my head that we'd lose the challenge. Although I don't want to reveal my strengths and weaknesses so quickly, if we fail at this, we'll have somebody else to vote off. Particularly Stephen, I'd say. He's skeptical, and I probably could not manipulate him into an alliance. Oliver, however, would be easier."

* * *

Dustin remained seated on the bench, and smiled as his teammates stood up to make the team proud. "You guys ready?" Chris asked, as Oliver held up the soccer ball, while Stephen seemed like a natural with the baseball bat - his knees were bent, and he seemed to exude confidence.

"I'm ready," Oliver muttered as he gripped the ball, bending upwards. And so he let go.

The ball made a fine arc on its way to the basketball net, yet it narrowly missed the basket by the matter of centimeters. "No!" Oliver cried out, and he gripped his helmet.

"It's alright," Dustin remarked, "we can still score a touchdown if Stephen actually hits the shot, putting us in the lead. Oliver, just get the ball and shoot again."

Chris laughed. "Not hitting the shot on your first try means you are no longer eligible for one of the five points, but you can still score a touchdown for five out of six."

Oliver nodded, and run outwards to collect the ball, which has since become rather wet by the morning dew left on the grass. He wiped it off with his shirt, and stood on the X once more. And this time, he was far more relaxed as he let go of the ball. His shot was seamless - and Stephen buckled his knees as he swung the bat at the soccer ball, which was making its way down.

The ball went flying - far faster than Daniel's attempt, yet Stephen still seemed somewhat disappointed, as if he expected it to go farther. "I got it!" Bri called out as she repeatedly sidestepped towards the soccer ball before it landed. And by the time she caught it, she had easily passed sixty metres, but that was still not enough to break Team Pink's lead. Bri turned to her left - Dana and Clarissa were both charging at her, both faster than she was. "Get open!" she motioned to another teammate further ahead, draped in golden-coloured gear, but whether it was Faith or Genevive in the distance, she could not tell.

Genevive nodded, as side-spun to lose L.B. and Monica. She stood at the eighty metres mark, and watched Bri's desperate attempt at throwing the soccer ball in her direction before Bri was knocked down. Genevive managed to catch it, but fell short of a touchdown after being knocked down by Monica. "And that's four out of six points for Team Hipster Gold, putting them tied in the lead with Team Pink. Alright, Blue, you're up."

* * *

**(Confessional Cam)**

Oliver: "I just hope that somebody else misses their throw so I don't look too awful today. If we lose by a single point... I never should have volunteered for that!"

* * *

"Good effort!" Bri smiled, and sat down on the bench for a moment. "At least we're not in last, that's for sure."

Stephen nodded. "Worst comes to worst, we're _tied_ for second last. That's so much better. As long as we're not last."

"I'm sorry, guys," Oliver said, coming up to the bench. "It's all my fault we tied, and I could have done so much better. If we lose the competition, I'd completely understand if you all voted me off."

"Relax, nobody's voting you off," Dustin assured him. "We'd all have made that mistake. We'll just score a touchdown when it's our turn on the field, and it'll be alright." Oliver cautiously nodded, but he was still frustrated with himself, walking away.

"Well, we're going to need _someone_ to vote off if we lose," Genevive interrupted, "and thanks for volunteering."

Chris took his megaphone, and began to shout into it. "Alright, you all can sit down after Team Blue goes. Genevive, Bri, and Faith, you're all needed back in the field. Alright, Team Original," he gestured towards the Blues, "choose a batter and somebody to shoot the soccer ball.

"I'm batting," Sapphire immediately said, glaring at Maury, and then Jeremy. "Both of you are useless, but in different ways.

* * *

**(Confessional Cam)**

Olivia: "I honestly have half the mind to forfeit the challenge just so we can vote off Sapphire."  
Maury: "Jerk."  
Dana: "Was that guy dropped on his head as a child or something? Maury is somewhat useless, to be honest, but that's not really something you'd say to him..."  
Arlene: "It's times like these that I wish that I'd have somebody like Sapphire on my team. He's nothing more than a raging idiot, meaning he's pretty easy to control, and act as a scapegoat to any schemes I would otherwise have."

* * *

Jeremy and Maury exchanged glances, and the former spoke: "I - I guess I'll shoot the ball." Jeremy stepped to the red X, and prepared the shot. _I can do this,_ he thought to himself, and his heart began to pound. _What happens if I hit this? What if I don't? Will we lose? Will I be voted off? Will Sapphire be voted off? Am I over-thinking this?_

Without realizing it, Jeremy shot the ball towards the basketball net, and fumbled slightly before letting go of it. "No!" he cried out, but nevertheless, the soccer ball indeed touched the rim, and landed inside. Sapphire whacked at the soccer ball, and sent it flying.

Dana managed to catch the ball around forty metres, and began running forward. Arlene unleashed somewhat of a battle cry as she knocked Dana to the ground, and the cheerleader threw the ball upwards into the air in a desperate attempt to keep Team Blue's chances going. Olivia, who was slightly farther away, dashed to catch the ball.

The ball began its quick descent downwards, before being cradled in Olivia's arms. She looked around - Arlene was trying to get up and off of Dana, L.B. was struggling to get open from the touchdown line, with the path blocked by Faith and Clarissa. Olivia decided to dash, with Monica, Bri, and Genevive just behind her.

Indeed, she managed to run faster than any of them, and reached the sixty metre line. "Alright!" Chris announced as they kept running. "Team Blue is now guaranteed to tie with Team Pink and Icterine going into the halftime, but there's still a chance for a perfect round!"

_Faster_, a voice ringed inside Olivia's head. _Run faster; they're gaining on you._ L.B. was still struggling to get open, although the look of desperation on her face told Olivia that they were gaining on her. "Olivia has reached eighty metres!" Chris's voice mixed in with her own. And then she felt herself tumbling down, with the ball still cradled in her arms.

Although disappointed that they could not win a perfect round, she could not help but smile as Chris spoke: "And Team Blue is now in the lead with five points going into the halftime! But I wouldn't be _too_ confident; the other two teams have four points each, and this is still anybody's game."

"Nice job!" Jeremy gave her a pat on the shoulder. "We'll win this, I know it!"

"Suck it, Team Pink!" Sapphire's voice rang through the air.

Everybody took seats on their respective team benches, and Chris stood in the middle of the court, addressing all three teams. "For the halftime, we'd thought to give you something decent to eat while all of you rest up for the second half, where the boys will be running the court and the girls will be batting. As for our treat," Chris turned to face his assistant, Rupert. "Tell Chef and Amy to bring fresh fruits for all of our campers. Rupert nodded, and dashed off to the mess hall.

Out of the three teams, Team Blue was perhaps the happiest. Maury and Jeremy and Dana were talking and laughing, as if they were old friends. "When I first learned of our team, I seriously thought we were screwed," Maury laughed. "Yet we're in first place!"

"Team Blue!" Jeremy cheered.

"Team Blue!" Three other voices echoed.

L.B. was removing her helmet, and walked over to the group. "Don't get excited. It's still a one point game, and if we screw up..."

"We won't," Maury assured her. "You know the old saying: winners never screw up, and screw-ups never win, or something like that..."

L.B., however, was not convinced. She only rolled her eyes and left the group. "A one point game," she muttered. Olivia was also taking off her helmet by the end of the team bench, and looked up to see L.B..

"You could have _attempted_ to get open," Olivia immediately said. "I saw you - you were just standing there, expecting that I would somehow make a pass that would go through Clarissa and the hipster - what was here name? Faith? Anyways, you just decided to stand there and expect me to do you part of the work. If you would try to get open, we might have actually won the round, and be almost guaranteed the win going into the second half."

"The ball was in your hands when our turn ended. It's your fault," L.B. hissed back. "Stop trying to point fingers, before I point my middle at you."

* * *

**(Confessional Cam)**

Olivia: "That was somewhat uncalled for. But, hey, the first time we lose a challenge, we can just vote off Sapphire. The second time we lose a challenge, we can vote off the goth. That way, we can afford to lose two challenges before we lose viable teammates."

* * *

"Ladies, ladies," Maury interrupted, standing between them. "Remember that we _are_ all on the same team, so let's start acting like it."

"Whatever," L.B. rolled her eyes and left.

Team Icterine was also in a fairly good shape. Just as Stephen had predicted, they were only one point behind the leading team, or as he phrased it, "We'll be tied for last. Because that's so much better than being last."

"We can probably defeat Team Blue," Oliver added. "I'm pretty sure that they had a fluke."

"You better hope so," remarked Genevive. "You said it yourself. Otherwise, it's your fault."

Dustin stood up. "Look." He glared at Genevive. "I understand you think that you feel superior to him, but if you're just going to keep on insulting him, then perhaps we should vote _you_ out first. Watch your tongue, or else it'll be you that stands on the Dock of Shame after the fire has died out. So, please, think about what you're saying." Dustin paused. "Better yet, think about what _I'm_ saying."

* * *

**(Confessional Cam)**

Genevive: "And then I thought about what he was saying. And I must say, Dustin comes off as pretty smart, but not smart enough. He's playing mind games with everybody else and making me look like a villain." She scoffed. "Father will make sure that I'm the winner by the end no matter what."  
Oliver: "I honestly like Dustin. He's willing to stick up for his beliefs and defend other people."  
Dustin: "I can only hope that Genevive got my message. I'm not voting out Oliver any time soon. Somebody who is not only athletic but also gullible is invaluable. But how Genevive behaves now is going to be what interests me. If she starts to actually quiet down, I'd know that she recognizes me as a threat, and I'll actually get rid of her. Otherwise, I can just dislodge any type of alliance she could make."

* * *

And after a few minutes, Chef and his intern, Amy, finally arrived to the Challenge Grounds. They were both carrying woven baskets, which were evidently heavy by the struggles both cooks endured.

Amy had tanned skin, hazel,jet black hair, and she stood tall. She also wore a red tank top, black leather jacket, and pants with biker boots. "You are all entitled to one apple each. Zake any more," she gave a look to every camper, "and you vill feel ze pain." She had a heavy East European accent.

She started with Team Pink. Amy placed the basket down for the campers on the bench to take one, and Daniel was first. He smiled upon seeing how many there were. "Mind if I take two?" he asked, reaching with both hands to take both.

She slapped one of his hands. "Only von. No more." The apple that slipped out of his right hand dropped to the grass, and Amy picked it up, and shined it. "Here," she gestured for Rickie to take it.

"Um, thanks," Rickie blinked, and reached out for the apple. Just before he touched it, a gleaming black bird swooped in and took the apple with its claws, and flew off into the woods.

Amy drew out a knife, and chased after it. "Get back here you fiend!" she shouted to the bird.

From the other side of the bench, Adam watched the action unfold. "Hold my apple, he gestured towards Arlene. "I'm going to calm her down before she actually hurts that bird." And so he got up and ran off to find Amy, and the bird.

Arlene, however, smiled when she held the fruit. She looked around, and handed over the apple to Clarissa. "Want it?" she asked. Clarissa slowly nodded. "Take it from my hand." Clarissa did as she was told, and walked away, biting on it.

"Alright campers!" Chris shouted over his megaphone, entering the Challenge Grounds. "We'll be starting the second half. Team Pink and Team Icterine are tied for last with four points each, and Team Blue leads with five points. Alright, every guy should put on appropriate safety equipment, and the girls of Team Pink should be choosing who goes up."

"I'll go," Clarissa volunteered. "I'll throw the ball." Monica and Arlene gave each other quick glances, and Monica stood up as batter. Clarissa stood on the X, and held the soccer ball upwards. With a quick, sudden flick of her wrist, the ball went flying forward - but it went far off into the distance, and hit the cage, instead of the basketball net.

Monica sighed in confusion as Clarissa began to cheer about how she won Team Pink a point. "Clarissa," she said. "You're supposed to hit the ball _inside_ of the net. Not over."

"Oh!" A look of understanding dawned upon the blonde's face, and she looked at Chris. "So I can't get the point?" Chris shook his head. Silent, she brought the ball back to the X, and fired, this time seamlessly hitting it inside of the net. As it made its way down, Monica swung, and sent the ball flying. And so the chase began.

It landed near the forty metre mark - Rickie's territory, of course. He dashed to the left of the court to catch it, and held it in his arms. Even though he had a healthy distance from Sapphire and Oliver, he did not let up his dash towards the next mark.

"Pass it!" Adam shouted, from quite a long distance away. Rickie quickly decided against his suggestion - Maury stood between the two of them. Instead, he threw it upwards. Daniel managed to catch it midair, and rushed his way through the rest of the field. "Watch out!" Adam kept on shouting, "run faster! Faster!" until one by one, multiple people latched on to Daniel.

Chris watched intently, hoping to finish the challenge so he could reveal his "surprise" to the campers. And it looked like the combined efforts of Dustin, Oliver, and a few others were going to knock Daniel down, and he ran slower and slower, cradling the ball close to his stomach until a huge crowd of players formed around him. And yet, even then, Adam kept on yelling, "Pass it! I'm open!"

And yet, a single figure ran through the field, and before anybody else could realize what happened, Daniel blitzed for the touchdown. The members of Team Pink all cheered, congratulating him. All of them, except Adam, who simply crossed his arms in disgust.

* * *

**(Confessional Cam)**

Adam: "I know that Daniel and Rickie aren't doing this to me on purpose, but I'm really starting to feel alienated. If it comes down to voting one of us out, the girls will probably make their own alliance between each other, and Rickie and Daniel have each other. And then there's me. Probably the first person voted out of Total Drama Paradise."

* * *

"Alright, with a touchdown, Team Pink has totaled to nine points, out of a possible twelve! Not too shabby, if I say so myself." Chris turned to face Team Icterine. "And you have four points, meaning you need to do just as well as them to tie. At least Team Blue has a cushion, and only needs four points to avoid losing."

"I'll bat," Bri offered as she stood up, strapping on her helmet.

"I wanted to throw the ball before it was cool," Faith hissed. "Now it's too mainstream. You go," she said, glaring at Genevive. The snob awkwardly shrugged, not knowing how to respond to that. "Chris, is it possible for you to get me an iced decaffeinated skinny-vanilla latte with soy milk?"

Chris, however, did not seem to listen. "Alright Genevive, it's all up to you... no pressure, of course." Genevive gave him a quick glare, and threw the ball into the air. It had a few seconds of airtime before it soundly landed downwards into the net. And as the soccer ball made its way down, Bri knocked it into the field with her wooden bat.

"I've got it!" Oliver yelled out, catching it. He dashed for the forty metre mark, and he quickly outran his pursuers - Adam and Maury had a rather hard time keeping up, to the point where the two saw the inevitability of losing him completely. What Oliver did not expect, however, was Daniel charging straight at him, his forearms out in front. Moments before the two went hurling towards the grass, he threw the ball upwards in desperation.

Daniel was the first to get up. He offered a hand to Oliver, to help him get up. "Sorry about that. You okay?"

Oliver nodded. "I've got my lucky helmet," he gave a weary smile, and patted it. "It keeps me safe. Well, fairly safe, anyways."

The ball continued to spiral downwards, until it was finally in Dustin's hands. He had a healthy distance from his pursuers, and he could not get a clear passing lane towards Stephen, lest it be caught between the teammates by somebody else. The dash was quick, although tiring, and Dustin seemed to not be letting up.

The team erupted into cheers when Dustin passed the hundred metre mark, leading to the touchdown. "Nice!" Oliver gave his teammate a pat on the back. Stephen gave Dustin a quiet glare, and he simply smiled back.

"And Team Icterine takes the lead with ten points between both rounds, meaning that they cannot come in third place!" Chris announced. "Now, depending on the Blues, Team Icterine has a chance to win it all and immunity, or just immunity."

* * *

**(Confessional Cam)**

Dustin: "In all honesty, I could have ran slower when I dashed to catch the ball from Oliver, and it would touch the ground, practically guaranteeing our loss. But I'm not just going to make us lose the challenges; I have a code of honour."

Stephen: "I'm happy and all that we're not voting somebody off, but I'd rather erase that smug expression from Mr. Sunshine instead."

Bri: "I was kind of disappointed about not being on Rickie's team - he seemed like a really nice guy and all. And then I felt frustrated when I saw how strong his team was as a whole. But I'm happy here. We're not losing the first challenge, and that's all that matters. I mean, we had a perfect round!"

Monica: "Sports are a waste of time anyways. Unless they're video game sports." She sighed. "As a member of Team Pink, I'm actually okay with coming in third place more than second place. At least we can vote off dumb, dumber, and dumbest - Clarissa is the only person I've _ever_ met who was all three of those at the same time. But I actually wouldn't blame Team Blue if they forfeit the challenge to vote off the green-haired guy. What was his name? Sapphire?"

Olivia: "I've decided that it's for the best if we lose this challenge to vote out Sapphire before he becomes a problem. I just need a way to make it look like it was an honest mistake."

* * *

Chris gave a look to the campers. "Alright Team Blue, you currently have five points before this round starts, and you need four more to go into a tiebreaker challenge with Team Pink over who has to send someone home. You'll need six points - a perfect round - to secure first place without a tiebreaker challenge with Team Icterine."

"We've got this!" Maury bellowed. "One, two, three, team!" he shouted, placing his hand in the middle of the huddle. Everybody simply walked away, and Maury awkwardly withdrew his hand.

"I can bat," L.B. offered, and she stepped up.

Olivia stood up, "And are you sure you want to deal with all the pressure? If you miss the ball, imagine what would happen..." L.B. scowled and sat down on the bench once more, making Olivia smile at her success. "I'm at the bat. Dana, you're throwing the ball."

"Good luck!" Jeremy's high-pitched voice echoed from the forty metre mark. Olivia pretended not to care, however. Dana gave a smile and waved.

Dana sighed, and raised the ball over her hand. With a quick flick in her wrist, it masterfully went up into the air, and down the basket. Olivia had her knees bent, and appeared as a veteran as what she was doing. As the ball made its way down, she swung hard - but evidently, from the camera angle, it was not as hard as it appeared, and bunted only to the forty metre mark.

_This is my chance_, Jeremy quickly decided as he realized he was to catch it. "It's mine!" he announced, and gripped onto it before it hit the ground. Before he could turn to run, he was trampled to the ground by Oliver and Rickie. As the two got off the smaller boy, everybody could clearly see that he was, indeed still holding the ball - just beyond the forty metre mark.

"Heh," Chris chuckled, "For this round, Team Blue has one point for shooting the ball inside the basket on the first try, and two points for making it to the forty metre mark. Which brings them to a grand total of-"

"Eight points," L.B. grumbled. "Team Pink has nine and Team Gold-Knockoff has ten."

"Right you are, my socially depressed minion," Chris smiled. "Alright, so Team Icterine is the winner of the first Total Drama Paradise challenge!" Several cheers erupted from the team, and many of them hugged and smiled and laughed. "Second place goes to Team Pink. You don't get a reward like Team Icterine does, but you're not sending someone home. And Team Blue," he gave a sly smile to the losers.

Sapphire threw his arms in the air in frustration. "Agh! I've had it with you losers! You're all useless, incompetent, losers who can't win a challenge!"

"Look," Dana interrupted. "I'm going to say it know, I'm voting for _you_ because you're a jerk, simple as that. Who's with me?" A few cries of agreement rose from Team Blue, and Olivia smiled, her plan having worked.

Chris laughed. "Alright Team Blue, you've lost, fair and square. But luckily for you, this is a reward challenge!" he smiled, causing a few voices to gasp, especially Dana, who gave Sapphire a glare. Sapphire, however, smiled. "And the prize, you may ask?"

The host held the pause for an unnaturally long time, until Monica got tired of it. "Get with the reward already!"

"Team Blue now ceases to exist! Instead, Team Pink and Team Icterine will recruit the six members of the former squad to their own teams - three members for each team. And since Team Icterine won the challenge, they get a reward - they get the first pick, along with the third pick and the fifth pick. Team Pink gets the second, fourth, and sixth picks instead. Alright, Team Icterine, choose one member of Team Blue to place on your team," he gestured towards the former members: Sapphire, Jeremy, Maury, Dana, Olivia, and L.B.. "I'd choose wisely, if I were you."

Sapphire was desperately motioning for Team Icterine to pick him. "We'll choose Olivia," Dustin immediately said. As she walked towards her new team, some of his teammates introduced themselves to her.

"Alright Team Manly Pink, time to choose one of the remaining five contestants."

"Sapphire," Arlene immediately said, to the confusion of her teammates. "We'll choose Sapphire."

* * *

**(Confessional Cam)**

Sapphire: "Finally someone understands my talents and value." Sapphire sighed, and looked at the camera. "It's about time."

Arlene: "There was no reason to not take him. He's a raging idiot who I can blame all of my schemes on, especially the ones that fail! Sure, he'll tick off everybody, but I'm hoping he'll do that."

Olivia: "We 'forfeit' the challenge for this? Seriously? Whatever; I'm with the winning team anyways."

* * *

"Pipsqueak," one of the members of Team Icterine called out. Jeremy sighed and joined them, although his joining was not as welcoming as the one given to Olivia.

"Dana," Arlene decided. Many of the group members seemed more pleased with this choice, compared to the last one. One of the members of Team Pink even cheered as Dana walked into their group.

"Maury."

The entertainer sighed as he walked to his new group. He turned to Dana, and blew her a kiss. "I'll wait for you until the merge, where we'll be on the same team again!"

* * *

**(Confessional Cam)**

Dana: She sat there, praying. "Please vote him out before the merge, please vote him out before the merge, please vote him out before the merge..."

Maury: "Gee, I hope she didn't take that seriously; it was meant to be a joke. But I know when a girl is playing hard-to-get and when she's not interested; I've had plenty of experience on that - I meant the hard-to-get part, girls are almost always interested in me. I would normally keep up my pursuit because I know I could win her heart, but fate guides me somewhere else. So, for now, bye, Dana. I've hardly got to know you..."

* * *

The only one left was L.B.. She sighed and walked towards Team Pink. "Of course I'm picked last..."

"Turn that frown upside-down!" Jeremy immediately responded, and L.B. shot him a glare. He immediately quieted after that.

Chris had already begun walking towards the campgrounds, and others followed suit. Once they were there, he pointed towards the cabins on the east. "Those are the Girl's Cabins. The one on the left is for Team Pink, and the one of the right is for Team Icterine." On the west wing were a set of identical cabins. "And those... those are for the guys. The one of the left is for Team Icterine, and the one of the right is for the guys of Team Pink." All of your bags have been placed in the..." he slurred on the last word, and it was obvious he himself did not know.

Rupert came running towards the camp grounds, wheezing the entire time. "I've placed all of the bags inside of the mess hall to prevent animals from snatching them away."

"You heard him; get them and unpack," Chris commanded. Many of the campers did as they were told, although a few were noticeably slower.

* * *

**Team Pink: Boy's Cabin**

"Want to bunk?" Rickie immediately asked Daniel as they both stepped inside of the cabin. There were two sets of bunk beds, and Rickie placed his bags on the foot of the one closer to the door.

"I'd bunk," Daniel agreed. "I'm okay with top or bottom. Which one do you want?"

Rickie observed both. "I honestly don't care; you choose."

"I don't mind either." Daniel sighed, until an idea came to him. "How about we settle this with a coin. Whoever gets heads gets the top bonk. Whoever gets tails gets the bottom bunk-"

Sapphire scoffed. "You can both sleep on the ground. Or preferably in the wild, considering you _apes_ are probably going to be snoring the whole night." He turned to face Adam, who just walked in. "You can sleep on the floor for all I care. I'm taking the top bunk. I don't want your drool all over me when I wake up."

"So I get the bottom bed, then?" Sapphire uneasily nodded. "And listen, we're not apes, and if you keep this attitude up, you're going home first. You were lucky enough today."

"Whatever," Sapphire climbed the small, dainty ladder that brought him to the top bunk. "Just don't move too much. Ugh, you're probably going to go sleepwalking in the middle of the night to hug trees. Get a haircut, you hippy."

Rickie and Daniel were occupied with their own decision making. Daniel had brought a coin with him for moments like these, and he was glad to be able to use it. He tossed it up in the air. "If it lands on heads, I get the top bunk," he explained. As it made its way down, he clamped it with his fist, and laid it, facing up. "Alright, bottom bunk it is."

Rickie nodded. "Then I'll take the top bunk."

* * *

**Team Pink: Girl's Cabin**

Inside of the cabin, there were three pairs of bunk beds. "I call top!" Clarissa immediately exclaimed, being the first one inside. She set her bags down and climbed up, putting the blanket over herself.

"We still have dinner, so don't get comfortable," Monica reminded her. "I guess I'll take bottom."

Dana turned to face Arlene, and then L.B.. She looked at the former. "Want to bunk?" Arlene simply nodded, and took the top of the next bunk bed. Dana sat on the bottom.

L.B. sighed, and took the bottom of the last one. "Whatever. I didn't want anybody stirring in their sleep anyways."

"I still don't like how you've picked Sapphire first," Dana outwardly said to Arlene. "He's a complete jerk, and he's going home first anyways."

Arlene simply smiled. "And that's why I knew I had to pick him. Everybody else on your team seemed so nice, and by bringing him, we can afford to lose somebody without actually feeling bad about it. We'll all become really close from this competition, and we'll know each other so well. At least by voting Sapphire, we won't have that heartache of voting one of our own." Dana evidently did not buy that, but slowly nodded.

* * *

**Team Icterine: Girl's Cabin**

Genevive, Faith, Bri, and Olivia walked into the cabin: there were two identical sets of bunk beds, one close to a window, and one close to the door.

Faith dropped her bags by the entrance and ran to claim the bottom one of the bunk beside the window. "You don't have to run," Genevive quipped. "You should have asked or something."

She turned around, hissing. "No, you don't understand," Faith replied in a hostile tone. "I _need_ to take the bottom bunk before it becomes cool."

Olivia and Bri gave quick glances; neither wanted to be stuck with the hipster. "Want to bunk?"

"Sure," Olivia replied immediately. "I'll take the bottom." Bri nodded, and took the top bunk near the window.

"So I'm stuck with _her?_" Genevive asked, pointing towards Faith like she was some animal. "Life isn't fair!" She threw her arms into the air: "This is - this is an outrage!" But nobody cared about her tantrum, and she awkwardly got into the top bunk, setting her bags aside.

* * *

**Team Icterine: Boy's Cabin**

With five boys, there were three pairs of bunk beds. _This means that somebody gets one alone_, Dustin observed to himself. _It won't be me; bunking is a great way to increase people's trust of me._ But luckily Stephen volunteered for it. "I'm sleeping alone," he told them all. "It's nothing personal... I've slept in bunk beds before, and I don't like them."

Oliver nudged Dustin, and the latter nodded. "I'll take the bottom if you don't mind," Oliver told him.

"No, no - not at all," Dustin assured him. "I wanted the top one anyways, so it's a good fit. He climbed upwards to get a feel of the bed. Only a few moments later did he peer down to look at Oliver. "Look, I'm kind of paranoid right now. I'm just wondering if Genevive is manipulating the other girls to vote for me."

Stephen laid down on the bed. His eyes appeared closed, but he opened one up just slightly so that he could look at Dustin and Oliver talking. The latter gasped. "No way, man, you're definitely safe right now. You heard her, she's going to try to vote me off."

"She'll vote both of us off," Dustin nodded. "I say we stick together - safety in numbers."

The daredevil nodded. "Safety in numbers."

Jeremy had decided to take the bottom bunk, while Maury took the top bunk. Both were evidently tired, and took naps before dinner. Stephen, however, did not sleep, and just listened to his teammate manipulating Oliver - and Oliver didn't even see it.

* * *

**(Confessional Cam)**

Stephen: "I might just be paranoid, but I think that Dustin is going to round up all of the guys against Genevive, and then lump me with her, pretending I'm Genevive's partner or something. At this point, I'm sure that Dustin is just playing an act; it's happened too many times on this show already. I need proof, and I need it fast."

Jeremy: "Yeah, I'm kind of disappointed about the loss, and I feel like it's my fault. But Maury is pretty nice - all of the guys are pretty cute... I MEAN NICE. I meant nice. All of my teammates are nice."

Dustin: "So I already have an alliance with Oliver, and I'll make one with Maury and Jeremy soon enough. And I'm not planning on voting Genevive just yet, I have a much, much bigger threat that looms over me, sleeping in the same cabin in me." Dustin paused, wriggling his fingers. "Stephen, I'm sorry to say that you will be the first person voted out of Total Drama Paradise."

* * *

**~End Episode 1~**

* * *

**Team Pink:** Clarissa, Daniel, Rickie, Monica, Adam, Arlene, Sapphire, Dana, L.B.

**Team Icterine:** Dustin, Oliver, Bri, Stephen, Faith, Genevive, Maury, Olivia, Jeremy

_Elimination Order: N/A_

* * *

So, how was that chapter? Was it up to your expectations?

Sorry if you found the challenge rather boring; I know I did, but only halfway through, and by then, I could not change it. The next challenge will be much better - I hope. And don't worry, I don't need ideas for challenges, I have plenty right now.

There hasn't really been much in the way of romance in this chapter, but to be fair, it's not realistic (in my opinion) if romances begin within the first hours of arriving at camp. Even in the show, they develop over time. That's what's going to happen here.

How was the plot twist? I doubt you were expecting _that_. Meh, the twist of removing one of the teams sounded better in my head. Nevertheless, I'm keeping it!

Already some drama and alliances forming! You'll be seeing more of that shortly before eliminations, along with the relationships of couples forming.

Lastly, **I've decided that who gets voted off is my decision in the end **(largely because I can make some pretty interesting eliminations from that). Don't worry, your character is likely safe if you are showing me you actively read the story - I don't care whether this is in the form of PMs or reviews, just show commitment. Thirteen out of seventeen have done so, and I thank you, and I'd like for the other four to begin reading and reviewing this story as well.**  
**

This chapter is pretty long, at about 9,000 words. Just thought I'd let you know that.

Stay awesome!


	5. Episode 2, Part 1: Rich and Shameless

The day was still young, and the birds have only started to stir, with a constant "Chirp" midst the running waters that gently crashed upon the island. Atop the dock was a fairly young man, who smiled out towards the camera. "Last time, on Total Drama Paradise, we've met our eighteen campers, some more excited than others about being here, but everybody had the ultimate goal of winning the million by the end of the month. Following a sports-themed challenge, the losers - Team Blue, of course - decided it was dear, old, bitter Sapphire that would walk the Dock of Shame."

He gave a sly smile. "But _someone _incredibly handsome decided to make it a reward challenge, and the three teams of six became two teams of nine. How will this affect how the game plays out? Will the newcomers adapt to their new teams, or will one of them get the boot? It's showtime, baby!" he laughed. "Stay tuned for this week's episode of Total Drama Paradise!"

* * *

**~Episode 2, Part 1~**

**Team Icterine: Girl's Cabin**

* * *

"Psssst," a whisper echoed through the windows of the cabin. He gave a quick glance through the window, checking if anybody would be awake. The day was still young - Stephen was sure he was the only one awake for the past twenty minutes or so, until Olivia had arisen, and almost immediately took a jog. It would be now that he could say what he needed to say. _But first thing's first, Genevive's got to wake up_, he thought sullenly to himself.

He eyed Bri by the other wall. She was sleeping soundly, and stirred little. From his viewpoint, Faith was asleep, and he could not see Genevive, as she had the top bunk, above the window. "Genevive, wake up," he whispered. "Genevive..."

"Daddy, don't..." Genevive muttered in her sleep. He could clearly hear the blanket overturn, but she made no attempt of getting up. "Daddy, school won't start until I'm there, I promise..."

"Genevive," he once again muttered. This time, she seemed to shift - and not just inside her bed. Before he knew it, she was on the floor, and delivered a quick punch to his nose. He flinched back. "Ow!" he yelled, holding the nose. "What was that for?"

She rubbed her knuckle fiercely, and after a moment, looked up. "I don't appreciate a stranger whispering my name while I'm sleeping. What do you want?"

"An apology for punching me, for one," Stephen muttered, giving her a glare. "That much should be a given. And I also want to talk about my - your chances at this game. No, seriously, I want an apology."

Through the corner of her barely-open eyes, Bri could see Genevive and Stephen discussing their plans. She scowled, although neither seemed to notice. Instead, Bri just pulled the blanket over her head right after she heard footsteps out the door.

* * *

**(Confessional Cam)**

Bri: "It's the second day, and I can already tell that Genevive and Stephen are going to be a huge pain. I honestly hate people who act smarter than they are, like Stephen. Somebody needs to knock him down to Earth, and soon. I don't care about what petty alliance the two are making, but I just want to be left out of it."

Stephen: "Alright, everything is going exactly as I hoped it would. Man, I seriously underestimate myself sometimes."

* * *

Genevive shrugged, and walked outside, still in her sleeping clothes. "You aren't getting an apology. And if we're going to be talking about an alliance - or whatever you want to talk about - we might as well do something a little less suspicious compared to hiding behind the girl's cabin. Perhaps a jog. Olivia was telling me how she likes to get up early for those. We could do the same thing, and maybe catch up with her and invite her to our potential alliance. But then again, you really should tell me-"

"Can I just what I want to say? You talk too much, especially considering you just woke up. And no, we aren't jogging," Stephen sighed, and eyed the prints left in the sand where Olivia had left moments ago. "Olivia's already gone jogging. She started twenty minutes ago; chances are that with the speed that she runs, she's halfway through the island. Or she's already been mauled by Franklin the Bear."

"You woke up earlier than _her?_ Damn, she's going to see you as competition if she learns of that. You don't look like somebody who wakes up early."

He appeared annoyed, crossing his arms. "And what does somebody who wakes up early look like, then? Hmm? Anyways, I do, in fact, have an alliance proposal for you. Dustin's planning on getting you out, I heard him saying so to Oliver last night. And he's been giving me the cold shoulder yesterday. So he's got Oliver on his side, he's probably planning on inviting Olivia to his alliance as well." Stephen sighed. "Like it or not, you're probably going to be the first person off this team, and I will be the second. Unless we do something. Get rid of the problem before it gets rid of us."

She studied his eyes, and they showed no sign of betrayal, or deceit. "Fine, but only to vote Dustin out."

* * *

**Team Pink: Boy's Cabin**

At that time in the morning, the only boy of Team Pink that had woken up was Sapphire. Stephen would have noticed him waking, but instead, Sapphire remained in his cabin for a while, leaving with a bucket in hand after he heard the annoying voices of Maury and Jeremy.

And he just stared in excitement at his idea. Attached to the bottom of Sapphire's bed (which was just above Adam's bed) he had suspended a bucket of water by a few pieces of thin rope. Those ropes were attached by the planks that supported the upper bunk bed, and tied together with the corners of Adam's blanket. _This will be so good, _Sapphire thought excitedly to himself, barely capable of handling his excitement. He briefly contemplated waking up Adam so it would happen sooner, but that would ruin it.

And the first sound of Adam stirring came. He gave a low groan, and squirmed slightly in bed, although not enough to move the blanket. "Adam, you need to get up; breakfast will be served in about twenty minutes," Sapphire whispered to his teammate, although he was not sure that Adam heard.

"I hear you," he grumbled, and laid on his back. "Don't want to miss breakfast - that's important..." He gave a quick yawn, and proceeded to remove the blanket off his head. "Do you know where the showers are? I don't remember Chris saying anything about tha- HEY!" Adam gave somewhat of a shriek as the bucket finally tipped over, drenching him in the cold morning waters from the beach.

Sapphire nearly tipped over from laughing. "Yes, Adam, breakfast is quite important. You might as well skip the shower today; you should just dry up and nobody will be the wiser!"

"Jerk," Adam muttered as he stood up. Water droplets spread from his hair and clothes, and he clearly looked miserable and cold, but he was not, in the least, tired after that. "If we lose this challenge, you're getting voted out."

"What happened?" Daniel asked. His eyes were still half-closed, but he almost immediately figured out what happened. "Oh."

Adam squeezed the bottom of his soaked shirt, and water came out. After a few moments, he looked up, and gave Sapphire a glare. For a few moments, the only sound was that of Rickie's snoring. Daniel thought of waking him up, but decided against it. Breakfast was still fairly far away.

"What did I ever do to you?" Adam asked. "How does this give you enjoyment? You've done nothing but make other people hate you. Want to know why there are so many stories of strife, of grief, of sorrow? It's people like you, who laugh at the pain of others, who ruin this world."

"There are no people like me. There's only me." He clearly averted eye contact with either of his two teammates, and just kept watch over the door. And slowly, a smile crept on his face. "I won't be going home today. You need me. You just don't realize it yet."

* * *

**Team Pink: Girl's Cabin**

A sudden yelp from Adam and joyous laughter from Sapphire was enough for Monica to fall off her bed. The fall was not bad; she had the bottom bunk, and slept just under Clarissa's bed. "That guy sounds like a freakin' madman when he laughs," she grumbled.

Dana was getting ready for breakfast, and just finished brushing her light brown hair. She gave another glare to Arlene. "You shouldn't have picked him. It was a mistake."

Monica nodded in agreement. "That mistake is on your head, and you know it," she broke in, glancing at Arlene. "He's nothing but trouble, and you knew that, yet you still brought him on board."

"It would not have made a difference," Arlene shook her head. In truth, she planned on making an alliance with him. He does the more despicable actions she would not soil herself with, and in exchange, she would keep him safe from the Dock of Shame. "We would have taken him with the sixth pick then, so we didn't have much of a choice. And I like to give people the benefit of the doubt. For all we know, he might be a great guy, it's just that he's shy and this is how he'd prefer to make friends."

"Your head." Monica remained firm with her decision. "When you brought him on board, you knew we wouldn't be happy with that decision. Even now, I still don't like you for that, and I'd feel safer having you off the island after him."

Arlene averted her eyes, but Dana pressed on. "I agree with her. Arlene, you're responsible for this mess, you go sort it out. Make him behave, or something."

"Fine." And with that, Arlene left the cabin in a hurry. Perhaps she did look worried, or she would just tell them to vote him off so she loses the target. Either way, Dana did not care, as long as her team could act like a team.

"What happened?" Clarissa yawned as she woke up, looking around the room. "Hi Montana... hi Danelle... good morning..."

* * *

**(Confessional Cam)**

Monica: "One of my friends told me that there's no cure for being a scumbag."

Arlene: "Team Icterine definitely wouldn't use their third or fifth picks on Sapphire, and we would otherwise be forced to take him as our sixth pick, so we might as well be preemptive. But Dana doesn't want to hear that, instead she just wants somebody to blame. Seriously, wake up: he's going to be here, and the whole reason I picked him was because he's a mess of a person."

* * *

**Mess Hall**

Moments after the talk between Arlene and Sapphire had finished, the rest of the campers made their way to the mess hall, whether they wanted to remain asleep, or prepare for the next challenge.

Inside were two tables, each one easily able to seat all eighteen of the contestants, although L.B. decided that the two teams would separate into different tables - going to the other table would be a red flag that proves disloyalty. _Who has the guts?_ she wondered. Perhaps Arlene would do so, as her relationship with the rest of the team isn't the strongest right now._  
_

Chef sighed as the large crowd lined up along the wall with trays in hand. "Alright maggots, I'm instructed to give you two thousand calories in food today, which will be divided between a fruit, breakfast, lunch, and dinner." He gave a glance towards Jeremy, who was first in line. Without a doubt, Chef's glare was menacing, and the boy was now reconsidering whether he wanted breakfast or not. "Just take it, boy..."

He slowly nodded, and held out his tray. Chef dipped his ladle into the large pot in front of him, and poured a murky grey substance on Jeremy's tray. "What is this?" he asked, disgusted by its shape and colour.

The chef rolled his eyes. "It's supposed to be pizza. NEXT!" he yelled, and Maury came forward. Chef wasted no time pouring more of the "pizza" on Maury's tray, and he smiled: "Bon appétit."

Maury poked at it with his fork. "Is it edible?" In response, Chef shrugged. "If you say so..."

One by one, the eighteen campers received their food, and many responded with disgust. "Are you trying to make the worst food possible?" one of the campers told Chef, although he chose to ignore them. _Kids these days_, he thought to himself. _They feel entitled with this and that._

L.B. was right, and the two teams took separate tables, and nobody attempted to stray from their team to talk with others. With Team Icterine's table, the entire team was split along the two ends. Dustin had asserted himself as a popular guy already, as Genevive noticed. Oliver, Olivia, and Faith were sitting next to him, although she could not say what relation Dustin had with Faith. But regardless, all three seemed to crave his attention. _Stephen's right,_ she decided.

Maury sat beside her, and he only sat there after everybody else had chosen seats - he had a suspicion that they would sit away from him once he chose a seat, as if they were disgusted by him. None of the other campers seemed to notice that behavior, which he was thankful for. On his end of the table were Genevive, Stephen, Jeremy, Bri, and himself.

"So," Maury began the conversation awkwardly. Although Dustin and his company all laughed and talked as if they knew each other for more than a day, their part of the table was silent. "Airline food, huh?"

Stephen, who had been sitting opposite from him, looked up from his food, clearly not amused. "Not. Funny."

"I thought it was clever," Bri chirped in. She gave Maury a sly smile, "Definitely refreshing. I haven't heard jokes about airline food in a while."

"I thought it was funny too." The shortest member of Team Icterine looked around for approval, and Jeremy went back to eating his food. He tilted his head away from the silence, and towards the table that Team Pink sat around. Unlike his team, their team had all been sitting together, although they did not appear to be telling jokes, but rather, dangerously low whispers, followed by glares at Sapphire.

"I didn't even do anything to him," Adam muttered. He gave Sapphire another glare. The green-haired boy seemed slightly guilty, based on the fact that he averted eye contact with other people.

"I've seen idiotic people. I've seen vicious people. But I don't think I've ever met a vicious idiot before," Monica quipped. "Oh, and Arlene, how'd that little talk go? Is he planning on an apology soon?" Her tone was low, and threatening. "Remember... it's on your-"

Arlene heard enough. "My head, I get it. We did talk, Sapphire and I. I told him that I mistook him for a nice guy who was just socially awkward, and that I'm not his ally, even if I did pick him first. Don't know whether he listened or not, but I said the right things."

"Guys, he's just mean because he hasn't got to know us yet," Rickie added. "We should just give him time."

L.B. simply gave him a glare. She hissed, "Oh, but then who'd we blame for all of our losses? Surely you would be willing to take the fall, then?"

And in a way, she _was_ right, Adam decided to himself. Everybody would be making mistakes, but it's easier to pin them on one person? But who would they go for after they vote him out? He dismissed the thought; Sapphire deserved to go home after his "prank" on Adam, and nothing would change his vote.

* * *

**(Confessional Cam)**

Arlene: "I'm kind of glad that Monica allowed me to set Sapphire straight. The plan we made's brilliant! I like it so much, I think... I think I'm going to keep it away from even the confessional cam. For the time being, of course."

* * *

**Challenge Grounds**

Just like he said he would, Chris stood at the Challenge Grounds shortly after the contestants ate breakfast. Behind him were two identical wooden stages that laid upon the grass, and nothing more. "Welcome, campers, to your first elimination challenge! As you can see, I've brought in wooden stages and matching tables, and you know what that means? That's right! You'll be creating, directing, and acting out your own film!"

"Wait," Jeremy meekly interrupted, "we can't make a full movie by the end of today..."

Chris sighed. "I know that. You'll be creating a film, perhaps five minutes in length at most, which is easily manageable. And, being the gracious, and devilishly handsome host that I am, I'm letting you create it on anything you want - original content, of course. But it can only be material we can show to the general public, although you don't have to simplify it for toddlers and the like. Blood is to be kept at a minimum, and _fake_ blood, please."

"So, we're supposed to create a five minute movie?" Rickie asked. When Chris nodded, he continued: "Sweet. Anyways, how would we get fake blood? Do we, like, find red markers and smear them all over ourselves?"

"Rupert should be waiting in front of your cabins with a trailer, filled with random props and costumes, should you need any. You don't need to film on the stage, but it does have the bonus of having lighting effects. The table is there in case you want to feel fancy while talking with your group. Everybody understand?"

A few of the contestants nodded, others said, "Yes" and all of them turned to leave to begin brainstorming on their film with the other members of their group. "Wait!" Chris yelled out, causing everybody to turn around. "Aren't you forgetting anything? Camera, perhaps? You're going to need that in order to film a movie. A sound recorder as well, hm? And you'd all need some film editing software on computers."

"Isn't that all on the stage?" one voice asked.

Chris shook his head. "Nope; that's a little too easy for all of you. Instead, you'll be going on a hike for the camera that your team desperately needs atop the cliff. The sound recorder you _might_ want will be behind the nearby waterfall, which is Franklin the polar bear's territory. Be careful not to get eaten," Chris laughed.

"Actually," Adam interrupted him. "Bears won't eat us unless they have no food available. This forest is pretty healthy; you've done a good job restoring that. Franklin's got plenty of food."

"Uh-huh," Chris scoffed. "Repeat that when you get mauled. Anyways, you'll also need to be able to edit your film to make it presentable before dinner, so you'll need the video editing software as well. It's in the form of a CD, which is locked inside of a case at the bottom of the lake, just beyond the dock of shame. Once you get that, you can load it onto a blank laptop in the campgrounds to edit everything. Oh, and if you manage to make it to the CD, camera, or sound recorder, you're not allowed to touch the other team's equipment, or risk forfeiting the challenge for your team? Got it?"

A few of the contestants nodded once more, although this time, none turned to leave. Chris frowned. "That means go. You'll bring your completed movie here before dinnertime, so get a move on!"

* * *

**Team Icterine**

"We have nine people," Olivia began once the team got into a huddle, at the foot of their stage. "Which means we can have three people recover the camera, three for the sound recorder, and the other three can get the disk."

Maury shook his head. "That's not quite how the creative process works. Believe me, I'd know. We'd need at least one person working on the storyboard so we have the plot figured out before everybody gets back here."

"He's right," Bri added. "I also have experience in this stuff, and it'll take some time thinking of a decent plot. We can both stay to work on the plot; two people fetch the sound recorder and two people will get the disk."

"That sounds good," Dustin remarked. "I suppose I can get the camera; my legs need a decent workout anyways."

Oliver piped in. "I'll help you out!"

Dustin gave a smile, and Stephen rolled his eyes in disgust. "Sure. Faith," he looked at the redhead, "you want to join as well?" Faith declined his offer, and Olivia volunteered instead.

"Stephen and I will go get the sound recorder," Faith decided.

"We - we will?"

* * *

**(Confessional Cam)**

Faith: "Dustin's nice and all, but hanging out with him is way too mainstream; I was doing it _before _it became cool. I need to find a new partner, and Stephen is underrated as a part of my potential clique partners."

* * *

"That leaves us," Genevive gave a smile to Jeremy. "Can you swim?"

Jeremy nodded, and the two left for the Dock of Shame. Oliver, Dustin, and Olivia left for the cliff. Stephen and Faith excused themselves, leaving Bri and Maury.

"So," Maury decided to begin the conversation. "A movie topic... How about ... no, that won't work."

She gave him a glance. "What won't work?"

"You remember the old movies, back in the days where television was black-and-white? We can just make a silent movie with the classic stuff, like a piano falling when people are carrying it up the stairs. The only problem is that we don't have a piano, or stairs..."

"That's actually pretty clever!" Bri gave him a smile. She turned her head towards the campgrounds, and relaxed her arms on the table. "Didn't Chris say something about there being a trailer in the front with props and costumes?"

Maury shrugged. "Doubt there'd be a piano, but it can't hurt to see." He gave Team Pink a glance. They were all sitting on the table. _They're thinking of the plot first, and then getting the equipment._ _Perhaps that would have been better for us_, he thought, but discarded the idea. When they left, Dustin, Oliver, and Olivia were all running towards the cliff, and there was no way he could recall everybody back.

* * *

**Team Pink**

"Let's just leave one person to think of an idea," Monica added into their conversation. "Seriously, there's no need for all nine of us to talk about this at once. Anybody here creative? Or we can just have everybody think of ideas while we split up to get the equipment, and share them once we all get back."

"I'd agree to that." Dana looked towards her teammates for additional support.

Daniel sighed. "That seems to be the best. Rickie and I can go get the camera, right?"

"Sure thing, bro," Rickie gave a nod. The two began a trek towards the cliff, although neither one seemed to hurry up when they saw the distant shapes of Olivia, Oliver, and Dustin at the foot of the cliff, beyond a mass of trees.

"I'll... I'll go with them," Adam added, and hurried to catch up to his teammates.

"We'll get the sound recorder." Monica's voice sounded fairly desperate, as if she wanted to avoid it. She left, tugging at Dana's forearm. She followed behind, and L.B. decided to with them, leaving the odd trio: Clarissa, Sapphire, and Arlene.

"Well," Sapphire coughed rather loudly, "let's get the case. Don't sit there acting stupid; do something!"

* * *

**Team Icterine: Dustin, Oliver, and Olivia**

The climb, without a doubt, was much longer than Oliver had seen on television. From a distance - the other side of the island, perhaps - the way up seemed steep, but manageable, with lush green grass growing and a few trees here and there. The bitter reality of it was much worse, although Chris likely did not pay the cliff much attention during his restoration of the island.

The cliff had a brown, dirt-like colour to it from the base, and plenty of mud in the beginning, at the foot of the climb. And as they ventured upwards, they often had their knees bent and occasionally gripped rocks implanted into the ground to keep themselves from falling. It was not like rock climbing, Oliver told the other two; he'd practice the sport quite often while he was home. But that didn't make the fall any less difficult.

"So," Dustin gave Oliver and Olivia a smile as he gripped the next rock, and sat on it to avoid falling, "I think we chose the wrong activity. We should have gone to get the video recorder."

"Too late now." Olivia rolled her eyes, "And you're making it sound worse than it actually is. This is easy." _Right foot up_, she told herself, _and now grab the next rock. Left foot up - _"There's no rock," she muttered.

Oliver turned to his head, "What?"

"Nothing; keep climbing."

Dustin gave a nonchalant smile. If anything, he could use the time for talking, if only that. Or perhaps... "Oliver, you never told me, why do you wear a helmet everywhere? It must have been awfully weary having that on while you slept."

Olivia laughed. "You wear a helmet while sleeping?"

The daredevil dismissed her comment, which came off as somewhat of an insult. His face flushed a bright red, but he simply kept his eyes up on the steep path. "It's lucky - a sign of my personality. I've already mentioned this..."

"You might have," Dustin sighed, "but I forgot. Sorry if I struck a nerve."

"Don't worry, I'm like a rock." Oliver gave his friend a smile, and left his grip on a rock to tap his helmet. Dustin immediately cringed when Oliver lost his balance, the latter attempting to grab onto the rock once more, but falling short. He went tumbling down quickly, and his teammates watched in mute idleness.

Then Dustin smiled. "At least he's got the helmet. He's right; it is a good luck charm." Olivia could not help but smile at the witty banter.

* * *

**Team Pink: Daniel, Rickie, and Adam**

The trek up to the top of the cliff was certainly harder than the guys of Team Pink thought it was, although they made good time - although the distance between them and Team Icterine's three was becoming wider and wider. "Hurry up," Daniel muttered. He and Rickie were far ahead of Adam, who struggled to keep a healthy gap between them.

A low, ghostly moan. "Ow, my head..."

"Look, Adam," Rickie did not bother to look back, but kept talking, focusing on climbing. "It's cool if you have a headache and you want to sit this out. Me and Daniel-"

"Daniel and I," Adam immediately corrected him. "And that wasn't me..."

"What?"

The three teammates turned their heads to look backwards, where a large oak tree laid on the slope. At the foot of it was Oliver, who slowly rubbed his helmet. "My head..." he moaned.

Adam turned to face his teammates, and then looked back at Oliver. Even now, up above, the distance between them and Dustin and Olivia kept growing until the two of them were distant objects. _If he fell from where they were - he's lucky to have the helmet_, Adam decided. "Should we help him?"_  
_

Daniel looked around, and bit his lower lip. "Rickie, how 'bout you go on ahead and get the camera? Me and Adam-"

"Adam and I."

"Yeah," the athlete rolled his eyes. "Adam and I will help the helmet-guy out."

"Sure thing, man," Rickie continued his trek up the slope. "Oh, and um... don't trip, and fall, I guess."

Daniel placed one foot downward, and then the other foot, until he was next to Oliver. "You okay?" Oliver tried to nod, but even then, he still wobbled.

"Can we bring you down? Daniel, I think he needs help." The two of them got on either side of the daredevil. "Alright, when you lift him, lift him by the back, but make sure to keep support for his head with your forearms - no, not like that - like this."

Daniel nodded. "Alright, I've got him."

"Are you sure?" Adam asked. His teammate once again nodded. "Okay, we'll lift him on three. One, two, three!"

Adam lifted Oliver by the legs, and Daniel lifted him by the back. And in a moment, their arms twisted, their grips loosened, and Oliver went tumbling down, this time to the base of the cliff. "That's not good," Daniel muttered.

* * *

**Team Icterine: Stephen and Faith**

Silence. The entire trip through the woods was complete and utter silence between the two teammates. The trees hung high overhead, providing plenty of shade - which was fortunate, as Faith's skin could not handle much of the sun. Stephen wanted to begin a conversation, if only to ease his own troubling thoughts about an aggressive polar bear in the area.

"So... anything to say?" Stephen asked. Faith did not respond, but kept walking instead. "I'd understand if you don't want to talk, but give me an answer - actually, no, I don't understand why you won't talk. If you were planning on giving me the silent treatment this whole time, why would you ask me to come with you to get the sound recorder?"

Silence. The only sound was the constant "Chirp" from birds, a river flowing nearby, and the occasional twig that Faith decided to step on. And after a moment of idleness, Faith turned, and gave Stephen a glare. "I didn't want you plotting with Genevive where I couldn't hear."

"What?"

"I heard you and Genevive in the morning, and so did Bri. And I'd bet that half of the girls on the enemy team also heard you."

Stephen gave a perplexed look. "Why can't you just say 'other team' instead of referring to them as enemies?"

"Calling them the other team humanizes them. They're the enemy, all of them. But I digress-"

"And so do I," Stephen immediately answered. "You've heard everything I said to her? Fine, think what you want, but let me explain myself first." He paused, expecting for Faith to refuse his explanation, but she was silent. "Dustin's the real enemy. He's manipulating everybody."

She gave him another glance as she continued to walk. "And what proof do you have?"

"None that I can show you, but-"

"A hunch, then. And a stupid one. Dustin's being pretty defensive about it as well, talking with Olivia and Oliver and Jeremy and - and... I think that's it."

Stephen stopped in his tracks, even thought a large arrow was forming in the distance, no doubt signifying where the sound recorders were. Hopefully, they were going to be there first. "That's nearly a majority alliance-"

"It _is_ a majority alliance when you count me in it as well."

"So, if we lose this challenge, you guys are going to vote off Genevive?"

"Dustin says that you're going to be trouble for the team. Oliver's buying that rubbish completely," Faith explained.

Stephen shifted his eyes towards her. He groaned when he realized that he would be the first person off the island if they lost. "If you know that he's lying and deceiving you, why are you still following him? Genevive and I, hopefully along with Maury and Bri would be nearly the majority, and if you vote with us he'll be off the island. Consider quitting his alliance; it's for the best."

"I don't follow him, that's for sheep. I follow myself," she sighed. "And right now, I simply vote with him. And I'd consider it lucky to be voted off first. You'd be eliminated before it becomes mainstream."

"What? That doesn't make sense..."

"You don't make sense," Faith hissed. "Nobody makes sense."

* * *

**Team Pink: Dana, L.B. and Monica**

"If you'd walk slightly faster, we'd still be able to see where the Team Gold-ish Colour members are, and they probably know the way better than we do," Monica sighed. A little while back, they followed loosely behind Faith and Stephen, but far enough that the latter would notice them. But after Dana's frustratingly slow pace, they lost sight of them - and they were perhaps lost in the woods as well. L.B., however, did not seem to mind as much.

"Relax, we're going the right way - I hope." Dana gave her a casual smile. "But how about we talk about something else in the meanwhile - you know, bonding time?"

L.B. coughed loudly. "Sounds stupid," she muttered.

Monica gave Dana an annoyed glance. "Fine, what do you want to talk about?"

"How about boys?"

"How about no?" both Monica and L.B. said simultaneously.

Dana sighed. "Then what do you want to talk about?"

"Electronics, I guess," Monica replied, wriggling her fingers. "God, it feels weird not holding my phone for this long... it's like withdrawal or something."

The goth sighed. "Let's talk about darkness. Or art, maybe."

"So... we'll talk about boys, then? Have you talked to any of them? Which ones do you find cute?" Monica did not respond, but Dana found that to be okay. "It's a shame that Dustin is on the other team, he's probably the best-looking guy here. I mentioned it to Clarissa, and she seemed annoyed, as if she'd had her eyes on him the whole time. 'I like guys who play football,' she told me. Who do you think is the cutest guy, hmm?"

"They're all equally repulsive..." L.B. droned.

Monica, however, did not respond. She kept her eyes in front of her, hoping that they would find the sound recorders, or the other team. Dana kept on pestering her for an answer, and eventually, the techie turned around, annoyed. "Look, I'm not like you. I don't gossip - well, not like this - and talk about boys. I'd prefer to talk about my future, and the sort."

"So... do you think that Daniel is the cutest guy on our team?"

"No!"

"How about Rickie?"

"No!"

"It's Adam, then?"

"No!"

Dana seemed disgusted by Monica's answer. "So you think that Sapphire is the cutest guy on our team?" she asked, cringing.

"No, absolutely not!" She sighed. "Look, can we please stop talking about this? I'm not interested in this conversation, we're lost, and there's a hungry bear named Franklin in this territory."

The cheerleader seemed perplexed, and ignored the latter half of what Monica had said. "So... you're lesbian?"

L.B. could not help but laugh, but Monica growled. "No!"

"How about you?" Dana turned her head to look at L.B.. "Which guy would you say is the cutest? I think that Rickie is the most muscular, under that shirt, but I just can't like dreadlocks. Daniel, on the other hand-"

And just then, a rather large growl was heard through the forest. A few birds flew from their trees and took to the skies, and the immensity of the noise startled the trio, who huddled closer in fear. Across the stream in front of them, a large bear, draped in white fur, looked at them hungrily.

* * *

**(Confessional Cam)**

L.B.: "F-f-fr-fra-f-fr-"

Dana: "Franklin!"

Monica: "I remember Chris saying that you don't have to run faster than Franklin the polar bear, but you just have to run faster than the person next to you. Sorry Dana, but if you run as slow as you walk, you'd be the next meal for him. Or is it a her? No, definitely a him; they wouldn't name a female Franklin. I hope."

* * *

"Run!" Dana screamed, and she turned around to run. L.B. trailed behind, never once looking back to their third teammate, who remained frozen.

Monica looked for a second, and a realization broke when Franklin clawed at the water that separated them. "Wait," she told them, "I think the water's too deep!" And the bear, seemingly mocking her, jumped into the water, and slowly paddled towards them. She back away slightly, but had an idea.

The riverside was littered with varying rocks - many sizes, shapes and colours. The one she wanted was close by, and it was black, and more like charcoal then anything else. Pyrite, she'd heard it be called.

L.B. emerged from behind her. "Good idea, let's throw rocks at it!"

"Wait, don't-"

Pyrite could easily light a fire if pressed against another piece of pyrite, but L.B. picked it up before Monica could, and hurled it at the bear. The large creature snarled, and swam faster towards them. "You idiot!" Monica felt like screaming, but decided to keep her voice slightly lower. "I wanted to light a fire!"

"With the chalk?" L.B. asked. "Because we _so_ have the time for that." She threw several more rocks at the bear, which only seemed to infuriate the bear. L.B. began to back up. "Alright, I'm running..."

_Almost_, Monica thought to herself. She once again smashed the two pieces of pyrite together in front of a stick she placed between her knees. Sparks flew with each clash, but no fire emerged. As L.B. began to run, with Dana nowhere to be seen, she tried one last time...

She gripped the wooden stick she found on the ground, and held it like a torch at the bear, which reached the other side of the river. It once again snarled at her, and came forward, but eventually retreated.

Monica felt like celebrating, and imagined Dana cheering right now, but the only sound was the birds, and she realized she was alone in the heart of the woods. "Umm... anybody there?"

* * *

**Team Pink: Arlene, Sapphire, and Clarissa  
****Team Icterine: Genevive and Jeremy**

"How long have we just been standing here?" Jeremy asked. He peered over the water just under the Dock of Shame. True to Chris' words, the CD case was a short swim away, a simple enough task, had it not been for the shark patrolling the waters. "And why _are _there sharks in freshwater?"

"Who knows, we'd probably be here all day," Sapphire sighed. He gave a smile to Clarissa. "Unless, you know, _you'd_ want to go and get the case for us."

"What case?" the blonde asked.

Arlene could not help but slap her own forehead in response. "Do you even know what the challenge is?"

Clarissa nodded in response, clearly angry by Arlene's negativity towards her. After all, how could she not know the challenge? "Duh," she answered, "of course I know the challenge! We're all supposed to wait here for as long as possible, and if we move, we're out!"

"That," Genevive sighed, "that does not deserve a response... Anyways," she coughed. "Why are there sharks in freshwater? That does _not_ make sense! How are we supposed to get the case from them?"

Clarissa tilted her head. "Wait, that's the challenge? Oh, I know what to do! Maybe - maybe they're vegetarians!" Clarissa cheered. "Maybe if we threw some vegetables in the water, they would leave us alone!"

* * *

**(Confessional Cam)**

Genevive: "Twenty bucks says that Clarissa was dropped on her head."

Arlene: "Twenty bucks says that Clarissa had permanent brain damage during her plastic surgery operation."

Sapphire: "I'd bet twenty bucks that half of the people who use this booth just tell bad jokes about Clarissa. Anyways, I need to prove myself. Here goes nothing..."

* * *

"Fine," muttered Sapphire. "I'll go and swim in there to retrieve our CD case!"

"Can you go get ours as well?" Jeremy asked. "I'm not really comfortable in those waters..."

Sapphire shook his head, and gave a menacing grin. "Get it yourself." And with that, he leaped into the water, midst the few sharks that surrounded him, threatening him at any time. They all seemed not to notice him, but he remained patient, paddling slowly to keep himself up. He did several strokes forward, until he remained just over the case.

"Don't make sudden movements!" Arlene warned him. He rolled his eyes in response.

"Yeah!" Clarissa added, "don't scare the sharks! They're only vegetarians!"

This time, the campers chose to ignore Clarissa's "advice", and Sapphire held his breath, and sank underwater. Two sharks circled him, faster, faster, and then faster... he took their case in his hands and resurfaced, this time furiously swimming in erratic motions, despite Arlene's advice. Yet the sharks did nothing.

Arlene pulled Sapphire up by the green-haired boy's left hand, and Clarissa pulled his other hand. He placed the case in his pocket, and they cheered, while Genevive frowned. "Now, are you _sure_ that you donèt want to get ours as wellÉ Think about it, if we make it to the merge, we could have an alliance..."

"Nope!" Arlene grinned, "but on behalf of Team Winner, good luck!" The trio went to the Challenge Grounds, likely to think of an idea for their film.

Jeremy appeared frightened, slowly backing away from the dock. "I _really _don't want to do this," he whimpered. Genevive eyed him, and then glanced at their case, which appeared in clear water a healthy swim away, had it not been for the sharks.

She sighed, "Alright, I'll get it, but only if you promise one thing."

"What?"

"You have to vote for Dustin the first time we lose a challenge, deal?" Genevive asked. Although Jeremy appeared hesitant at first, he shook her hand, and she smiled. "Alright, let me go get changed. I'll be right back."

* * *

**(Confessional Cam)**

Genevive: "Is jumping into a lake with sharks worth an extra vote against Dustin? I'd normally say no, but desperate times call for desperate measures."

Jeremy: "I feel kind of bad for wimping out back here, but I really don't want to do this. But I also don't want to vote Dustin off; he seems like a really nice guy, and Genevive hasn't been... nice. At all."

* * *

**Team Icterine: Maury and Bri**

"Nothing. Absolutely no pianos, or anything in black-and-white," Bri grumbled, exiting the trailer. Indeed, it was filled with random props for a variety of ideas: it had surfboards and guitars and bicycles and countless other props, but no pianos. "We'll do something else, then," she gave a glance at Maury, who's head was still in the trailer, looking around. "There are plenty of props here to draw inspiration from. Well, definitely more than we had at my school's theatre."

Maury took his head out of the trailer. "Oh? You practice theatre?"

She shrugged. "A little."

"How little?"

"I've only gotten into it for junior year, but I'm pretty... important, I guess. Why? Do you do theatre?"

He gave a smile. "I've been practicing since I was six, so yeah, it's been a pretty long time." Maury could not help but chuckle. "Not much has changed in terms career advancements, but it's been a long journey."

Bri whistled in envy. "Anybody looking to be on the stage for that long has got to have a story. Cough it up."

Maury laughed. "Cough it up?"

"It sounded better in my head, I guess."

"No, no, I thought it was pretty clever." He sighed, "I was born in the Big Apple. The City That Never Sleeps. New Amsterdam, or as most of us call it: New York City, and I lived just outside of Broadway. My childhood years were spent listening to songs that actors would sing from outside, and I eventually went to see a performance, and I loved it all; the lights, the audience, it was all too... surreal. And that's why I'm interested in theatre. I want to see the world the same way that those actors do, it's more than just a hobby, it's my dream." Maury paused, recollecting those thoughts. He sighed, and looked around. "Do you have any stories?"

Bri shook her head. "No, not really. One more question, and please, answer it honestly."

"I'll honestly cough up the answer... pretend I never said that."

She laughed once again. "Umm... so... were you... were you ever popular at school?"

"Popular? Let's put it this way: the other drama fanatics would rather have me out of there than as a stagehand, or anything like that. Not sure why, but the chess team likes me plenty, even though I'm no good at the game, but I stay with the drama club because that's where I belong - that's my calling. I'm not the life of parties that others invite me too, I'm not particularly talented in the arts, but I have a dream, and nobody can take that from me."

"I see," Bri sighed.

He sat on the steps of the trailer. "Why did you ask?"

"Oh - I was just wondering. Let's get back to work."

Maury, however, did not go back into the trailer like Bri did. He simply sat on the steps, and looked around. "It's tough, when everybody tells you to give up, and I nearly did, but then Total Drama happened, and - and this is my chance at proving people wrong. That I can, and will make it."

"Well, that's touching, but let's get back to work," she replied. With a quick nod, he entered the cabin once again, and looked for inspiration.

"Hey!" Genevive called out, holding the CD case up, followed briefly by Jeremy. Bri and Maury left the trailer, and grinned when they saw the case. "We have it!"

"What took you so long?" Bri asked.

Jeremy shivered, despite him not being the one in the water. "There were sharks, and we were all scared, but eventually Sapphire went and later Genevive got our case as well."

"You were scared," Genevive replied, "I was never scared."

Sharks. "That's it!" Maury exclaimed, and caused their heads to turn to him. "We could make a reenactment of the boat scene from _Jaws_! There are sharks in the water, the green-haired guy - Sapphire, I think, had his boat crash into a rock in the lake and everything! We could just get another boat there with the equipment, and film!"

"Sounds good," Genevive said, "these shark's aren't dangerous anyways. But we can _pretend _that they are." She chewed her lip. "But I don't suppose any of you have a boat..."

"We can ask Chris."

* * *

**Team Pink: Adam and Daniel  
****Team Icterine: Oliver**

"Chris!" Daniel called out. "Where are you?"

He held Oliver by the shoulders, and Adam held the daredevil by the feet. They left the forest, with the latter struggling to keep Oliver up, and turned their heads for Chris. "Yo," Chris smiled, raising his sunglasses as got up from a chair off the beach. "Need any help?"

"Yeah, we need medical help," Daniel answered. "Oliver fell from the top of the cliff, rolling downwards. Then he hit a tree, and we tried bringing him down safely, but he slipped and now - yeah, you get the idea."

Chris glared between the two of them. "Alright. I'm going to ask the three of you to follow me to the mess hall, where we have emergency medical standby."

"Can we get a stretcher for him?" Adam wheezed, and he too looked like he was about to drop dead.

"Sheesh, how much money do you think I have? Stretchers? Those are expensive!"

_And you can afford for boating a trailer and a bunch of supplies, but no stretcher_, Daniel thought to himself. But he simply obeyed, and hauled Oliver to the mess hall. Chris opened up a doorway leading to the kitchen, and another one to what seemed like a cold room, but it was strangely enough filled with enough medical supplies to pass for an actual hospital room.

"Set him on the bed, there," Chris instructed. "And then I'll talk to both of you about what happened. But first, Doctor!"

From the dark depths of the poorly-lit room came a shadow of a burly man, with a grim look on his face. "Doctor Chef Hatchet at your service."

"Chef is a trained doctor?"

"Kind of," Chris explained. "He's more of a semi-professionally trained unlicensed doctor. To prep him for cases like these, we made him play plenty of surgery games and watch medical dramas. Chef is almost as good as the real thing. Almost."

Chef grumbled something, and approached Rickie, who laid on his bed. In the man's hand was a large electric razor, which he held up, and turned on. "Wait," Daniel stopped him, "why are you pointing that at his chest? He hit his head."

"Fine," Chef muttered, and put it away. "He'll be fine, in that case, just give him some time to rest."

"Does that mean he'll be out of the challenge?" Chris asked, a grin appearing on his face. Chef nodded. "Alright, Daniel, Adam, I need to ask you some questions about how Oliver got hurt."

* * *

**Team Pink: Arlene, Sapphire, and Clarissa**

"I got the disk," Sapphire muttered, placing his feet on the table, and held onto his chair. "One of you has to think of an idea for the film - movie. We can't wait for the others to come back."

"I agree," Monica appeared behind him, and took a chair next to him. "Sapphire's right - even if he is a complete scumbag."

"Where's the sound recorder?" Arlene looked at Monica. The techie was in worse shape than any of them, with scraped knees and her hair slightly frizzy.

She sighed. "We almost got mauled by a bear. Dana and L.B. left me there to die, so I'd hope they got it." Monica blinked, and saw Rickie approaching. "Hey!" she called out. "Where's Adam and Daniel? Do you have the camera?"

Rickie smiled, and held up the camera in his right hand. "The other two guys went to go help the guy with the helmet. But they'll be back soon. The dudes of Team Gold-Ish already got their camera though."

"Hey," Daniel gave him a nudge, and took their own seats on the table. "Chris just wanted to ask us a few questions about how Oliver got hurt."

"So," Clarissa announced, "we're just missing Danelle and Shelby."

And, in cue, the two girls came out of the forest, holding the sound recorder. Dana was cheering, and L.B. cracked a smile. "We've got it!"

"Thanks for ditching me," Monica grumbled.

Arlene sighed. "Anybody else find it weird that as soon as we ask where somebody is, they just appear?"

"Seems perfectly normal to me," Rickie responded, "maybe it's just you."

Adam gave the rest of the group quick glances. "Alright, I've been thinking about what we can make this film about, and I have an idea." The rest of Team Pink peered in hear his idea. "This is what I say we do..."

* * *

**~End Episode 2, Part 1~**

* * *

**Team Pink:** Clarissa, Daniel, Rickie, Monica, Adam, Arlene, Sapphire, Dana, L.B.

**Team Icterine:** Dustin, Oliver, Bri, Stephen, Faith, Genevive, Maury, Olivia, Jeremy

_Elimination Order: N/A_

* * *

Another fairly long chapter, this one also nearly 9,000 words. I opted out of making this one part with the elimination here, but that would be a little too long, in my opinion. The rest of the challenge and the elimination will be the next part. This challenge in itself is also pretty long, and most other challenges will likely be shorter, so expect mostly one-parts for each episode.

I've finally gone around to mapping what I think would be future relationships, but let me warn you about one thing: I suck pretty damn hard when it comes to romance. But at the same time, I want to keep it realistic, so you won't see couples forming particularly early, but I have foreshadowed a few of the couples.

And concerning Oliver ... No, he's not dead, or seriously injured, it's just that he has a head injury (that won't be messing with anything in the long-term). I'm not going to butcher any of the characters, give them brain damage, or mutate them. That's just a cruel. He'll be fine for most of the second part of this episode. But his injury actually helps to set up character development for somebody else.

Anyways, hope you enjoyed the chapter!


	6. Episode 2, Part 2: It's Showtime!

**~Episode 2, Part 2~**

**Challenge Grounds**

* * *

"Alright," Adam had said. "This is what I say we do. Before I came here I saw a commercial that I found pretty cool, and it lasted for about a minute. But we can use the same idea, and have it last for two minutes. Its-" he sighed. "It's difficult to explain. Basically, this one guy does an action with a sport, like swing a tennis racket. That tennis racket becomes something else - maybe a baseball bat, and it's a different person holding it, and that keeps on happening. Then, halfway through, we would have people start to fail, fall down, and it would go along with this song I know. When the line, 'How quick are you gonna get up?' plays, a wrestler would fall down, and get back up-"

"Sounds overly complicated," Arlene shook her head. "Let's keep it simple. Why not... why not... screw it; I've got nothing."

Clarissa coughed. "Let's do that scene from _Mean Girls_! We can totally do that!"

"I'd be okay with it," Dana chirped in.

Monica placed her hand on the table, "Let's do a scene from _Godzilla_." She grinned ."I'm actually really good with editing software, and I think I can make a decent monster within the next few hours. Add some explosions, a city-"

"How about a lack of green screen?" Daniel asked, arriving back from the trailer. "There's nothing there, so good luck removing the background from every scene."

"I'd agree to the shark scene; nothing says manly like a shark attack," Rickie added.

Sapphire sneered, "Nothing says manly like Team Pink."

"What about the _Mean Girls_," Clarissa pressed her ideas onward. Some gave her glares; others did not pay her attention. "Denny can be the queen bee!"

"Why am I getting dragged into this?"

* * *

**(Confessional Cam)**

Monica: "I'm actually pretty good at video editing, and I know that we could have won it if we had a green screen with us... wait, did the other team take it? Was there only one?" She slapped her head in annoyance. "Why didn't we send anybody to look through the trailer?"

Daniel: "There are five girls on this team, yet Clarissa thinks I should be playing one of the female roles. Why?"

* * *

L.B. tilted her chair backwards, refusing to look at the rest of the group. "We are _not_ doing scenes from that stupid Disney movie, or whatever it was."

Arlene smiled, giving the goth a glare, which she returned back. Her hands were resting on the table, and she smiled, "I personally agree with Clarissa. The 'stupid Disney movie' would be quite doable."

"Actually, I'd be okay with _Mean Girls_," Sapphire chipped in. He looked around for more approval. Many of the group members were clamoring among themselves, and he frowned - precious daylight was being used, and this would be due in a few hours. And then he thought of the other team; they were talking to Chris near the campgrounds, and he wondered whether their situation was better. _We have to win this_, he thought._  
_

Arlene nodded. "So, anybody else want to do _Mean Girls_? Sapphire, me, Dana, and Clarissa are four votes for it. Anybody else want to do it, so we can agree on it?"

"Sapphire, Dana, Clarissa, and I, you mean," a voice rose from the murmurs.

Arlene, however, was not impressed. "Okay, which one of you keeps on correcting everybody?" Nobody raised their hand. "Frankly, it's getting really annoying, and it's not funny, if that's why you're doing it. Now then, who wants to play out scenes from _Mean Girls_?"

"I'd agree to it," Adam suggested, and everybody glared at him. "No, seriously, it seems so much more doable than a scene from _Jaws_. Plus it's got some humour in it, which we can easily convert into a satire, which works for five minutes."

Dana smiled. "You hear that, Clarissa? We're doing your idea!" The ditzy blonde cheered in response, waving her hands in the air, to the annoyance of others.

L.B. however, was not impressed. She simply frowned, and got up. "Fine, do your stupid satire, but count me out of it. I'm not doing any of this," she told the rest of her team, and she walked away, towards the beach.

"Where are you going?" Daniel crossed his arms, disgusted by his teammate's reaction to it. Of course, he didn't like the idea either, but the majority of the group wants it, so it was only fair. "L.B., where are you going?" he repeated, this time with his voice louder.

The goth turned around. "To take a walk!"

Rickie stood up as well. "I'll - I'll go calm her down, I guess." He chased after her.

* * *

**Team Pink: Rickie and L.B.**

She was just sitting there, on the beach, gripping onto her knees. L.B. just watched the water, completely still, and never once did she move, even when his footsteps became audible to her. _She likes the water - or the waves. Or the sun. Or maybe she likes the beach_, he thought to himself. He took his time with each step, but kept his movement audible. And in a moment, he dropped down to sit next to her.

"It's _her_, she doesn't want to make a satire. She just wants to make me mad."

"Who are you talking about? Dana?"

L.B. gave Rickie a glare. "Seriously? I'm talking about Arlene."

"Well, I couldn't have known that," he shrugged. "But the group needs you."

"Tell the group to bugger off."

Silence. He did not bother to move, even as a few minutes had passed, and their team could be well into making the scenes. "You like art?" She nodded. "I never really liked drawing or pressing buttons on cameras, but I also don't like the movie idea we're doing. But I'll still help, because - because that's what a team player does. I," he stood up, "I am a member of Team Pink, and so are you."

"A stupid name, and a stupid colour to represent us as well," she grumbled. "Team Blue was so much better."

Rickie sighed. "Well, I personally won't be mad at you for not wanting to do this, but the rest of the group probably will, and whether you want to do this or not is up to you, but just remember that we are a team, and that-"

"Are you going to get to the point anytime soon?" she asked, turning around.

He shook his head. "No, not really. But join us if you want."

* * *

**Team Icterine: Stephen, Faith, Genevive, and Jeremy**

"We could just flatter Chris' assistant for a boat," Stephen offered. "I'd really prefer not to kiss up to the actual tool, but-"

Faith rolled her eyes. "Because Rupert is so much better. They're all labels, products of society and the future of our world. Grey people, with grey personalities and hive minds, and the only thing vibrant are their fashion senses."

"Umm..."

"They need labels," she hissed, "to guide them and tell them who they are. All of them - and all of you as well. You're exactly as society wants you, and that's labelled."

"I thought hipsters don't believe in labels," Stephen replied. Faith glared at him, and he shrugged. "What?"

"I'm not a hipster. I don't believe in labelling myself."

Genevive scoffed, "How about we just find Chris? Seriously, you'd think he would be easier to find during challenges, in case we needed to ask questions." It was not long before that Dustin and Olivia had returned with the camera, while Stephen and Faith brought the sound recorder. The former two were talking with Maury and Bri.

"You want to find Chris, I'm told," a hushed figure spoke, from the shadows near the boy's cabins. "Perhaps I can help you with that..."

"Who's there?" Jeremy asked, looking around for the source of the voice. He gathered himself and hid behind Genevive, who pushed him away, annoyed by his cowardice.

Rupert emerged, laughing. He gave the group a look, "Alright, Chris told me to tell you guys that he's off for private time, and that I'm acting as the challenge supervisor until he returns." He rubbed his hands. "And I'm glad for the opportunity, before I myself become the host of this show when Chris would suffer from an unfortunate 'accident'... you didn't hear it from me, however. But you want a boat, I'm told."

"That is so incredibly stalker," Genevive ground her teeth.

The intern simply smiled in return. "That's not the way you talk to somebody who you'd ask a favour from, now is it?" Silence, and he gave another smile. "It just so happens that you need a boat, and I need a favour. Listen, you guys are going to be pretty damn famous when this season airs."

"We will?" Jeremy asked... "Wait, am I in the 'most' you just said?"

"Yeah, of course you'd be popular," Rupert smiled, and tussled the boy's hair. "The girls especially."

"Yay," he awkwardly grinned, "the girls..."

"Anyways, I'd ask for the four of you to sign five hundred photos of yourselves while you're on this island."

Stephen was slightly disturbed the idea. "You don't look like _that_ much of a fan to want that many. How about one?"

Rupert laughed, and patted Stephen on the back slightly too hard, and the cynic glared at him. "You're funny, I'd give you that. No, to be honest, I'd burn those photos if they were offered to me. The fans, however, will pay quite a price for them." Silence. "Yeah, marvel at my genius. I'm planning on selling all of them-"

"Deal," Faith immediately said, shaking his hand. She spat in her hand, but Rupert refused to shake it, and instead made the pact "symbolic," as he said. Genevive also did the same, followed by Jeremy. Stephen was not as sure on the idea, but he decided for it.

"Alright, in the campgrounds there's this large trailer parked there, with a bunch of props there. On the top of that trailer, there's a single rowboat attached to it by rope."

"Seriously? How did we never find that?" Jeremy asked.

The intern shrugged. "Too late now, since you shook on it. Alright, with that, adieu."

Stephen was the first to leave, and Jeremy and Faith trailed behind. Genevive turned to follow her group, but looked at Rupert one last time, and it dawned upon her. "Wait!" she called out. Rupert stopped and turned around. "You've already watched the first episode, edited and everything, right?"

He nodded. "I was the one to edit it, so yes, I did see it."

And right there, a familiar voice rang in her head. And halfway through the message, she realized the voice was Chris', when he was explaining the rules yesterday. "You are forbidden to plot with any of the staff members, no matter what," he told the group. But she did not care. "Look," she sighed, "does Chris watch the episodes?"

"He makes me compile the scenes that have him in it for his viewing, but no, he doesn't watch the show otherwise."

"Good," Genevive said. "How about an alliance?"

Rupert scoffed, "You know that I can't do anything, right? And that's besides the point. What you're implying could lose me my job. Plotting is strictly against the rules; this was day one stuff, remember?"

"You tell me exactly what's happening each day, what alliances are forming, and any interesting confessionals, and in exchange," she paused. "I'll give you half of the prize money when I win."

"Half?" Rupert betrayed no sign of being astonished. _She's_ lying, he immediately decided, but played along with it. "Even if I held up to my bargain, what would make me thing you'd hold up yours?"

"I have enough money," she pouted, crossing her arms. "I want to win, not to get rich. My dad owns an island resort he paid Google to officially "remove" from their maps. All of my family's cars are coated in diamond dust. And diamonds may be expensive, but actually grinding them into dust is way more. I don't want the money."

"Then... is it possible I can have the full amount-"

"No."

Rupert sighed. "You know that plotting with an intern is against the rules, right?" he asked. "I could lose my job, and you could get disqualified if Chris finds out."

"Then don't let Chris find out. But think about it; half a million dollars is quite a lot of money. Do we have a deal?"

He studied her. She appeared serious about it, but he did not. Although half a million... but what if she could not win it? He shrugged off the idea; she could not get voted off if she knew exactly what was happening, as it happened. Whether it was a mistake or not, Rupert would find out later. But for now, his fate was sealed with the second handshake with her. "Deal."

* * *

**Team Icterine**

"What happened to Oliver?" the group members had all wondered, and a few had asked Dustin. In response, he simply told them that he was talking with Chris about some other matters. It was not until shortly after Genevive had arrived that the daredevil finally showed up, alleviating the worries of his teammates.

"Where were you?" Dustin had asked, giving him a smile. "I told Olivia that we should pick you up after we reached the top of the cliff and got the camera, since we were so close. But when we actually got it, you just vanished."

Oliver shrugged, and took his seat. "Two guys from the other team tried rescuing me, but they also dropped me. Doctor Chef says that I'm lucky to be wearing the helmet, or else I'd miss the whole challenge, or probably be evacuated from the island." He tapped the helmet and grinned, "See, it is a good luck charm! But anyways, what are we doing?"

"The boat scene from_ Jaw_s," Bri answered. "We're going to use a crashed boat and everything."_  
_

He looked excited about that, much more than anybody anticipated. "I actually watched that scene at least fifty times; I've practically memorized it by now! What are you going to do for when the shark eats the bearded guy's legs off?"

"What?" Maury asked. "I don't remember that happening..."

"It did. Without a doubt, it did. It was pretty gory as well, with blood everywhere."

Dustin shook his head. "Looks like we won't be doing any shark scenes today. Any other ideas?" he asked, giving a stare towards Maury.

"Why me?"

"Why not?" Olivia gave him a smile. "Nobody else here really cares about movies, I guess. Unless you count movies with blood and intestines spilling everywhere. In that case, Oliver's your guy."

Bri nudged Maury. "Let's go for the black-and-white silent movie you were talking about before. We can substitute a full-sized piano with this table, or something."

The inspiring actor, however, did little aside from rub his temples with his index fingers. _Think_, he reminded himself. And after a moment, "I've got it!" The rest of the team, lacking any other idea, peered in closer to hear his suggestion. "We could go through with the black-and-white movie idea, and make it completely silent as well. I say that we do a short film about an inexperienced waiter who just started working at a restaurant. A couple wants to have a nice romantic evening at that restaurant, and that clumsy waiter is the one to serve them. But then, everything goes wrong; he trips, drops food on the girl, brings the wrong order, and everything."

"That..." Faith paused. "That's actually realistic to do in five minutes. Bravo. Bravo, young bird, bravo."

"Thanks?" Maury awkwardly shrugged.

And-"

Bri chirped in with her own idea. "We could decorate the mess hall to look like a restaurant! Maury, you're a genius!"

He blinked. "I am?"

* * *

**(Confessional Cam)**

Olivia: "Yeah, there's no way we could lose this challenge. Not that we were going to lose it before - there's a reason we're still undefeated in Total Drama. And it's not just because we had one challenge. This team is special, and much better than Team Blue."

* * *

**Team Pink**

Even though it took a few moments, Rickie had come back from the distant beach. "What's taking him so long?" Monica had asked more than once. They talked - and for a rather long time. It was only now that he managed to convince L.B. to come back.

"Alright," Dana gave her other group members a stare. "We'll be doing five short scenes from the movie in our own way. We'll be using the mess hall as a backdrop, and Daniel actually found a chalkboard in the trailer, so we could simulate a classroom. Got that?" She locked her eyes on Rickie's, who nodded.

"We've been working on a script," Arlene gave L.B. a smile. "And let's be glad we're on the team of five girls, as opposed to the four girls that the other team has. There are five major girls in this movie, so that leaves one for each of us. You can be the main character, if you wish," she handed the goth a script. In response, the latter hissed.

Sapphire sat back in his chair. "Monica volunteered to be the villain, Arlene the insecure girl, Dana being the least popular girl, and Clarissa will play the blonde, as you might expect."

"Yay!" Clarissa cheered, waving her hands in the air. Dana smiled. "That's awesome! We're doing my idea! Denny, isn't that great?"

"It's Daniel."

"Who's Daniel?"

Arlene coughed rather loudly, hoping to drag the conversation away from Clarissa's slowness. "Anyways, since we can't remember the script, we will be creating one ourselves, with some humour." She ticked off the piece of paper on the desk with the number one. "First scene!"

"I got it!" Sapphire grinned. "The principal and Cady - played by our resident goth - walk into a classroom with a bunch of students. The principal says, 'Welcome class, this is Cady, who will be joining your class. She's from Africa.' And then one of the Plastics remarks, 'If she's from Africa, why is she white?'"

"Away from the racial jokes, please," Rickie frowned. "Not cool man."

Adam nodded in agreement. "Plus Cady Heron was only in Africa for twelve years as part of her parent's research project. She was born in the United States." He paused, realizing everybody was giving him uncomfortable stares. "I remember a few facts from the last time I watched the movie... I have a good memory. I only watched the movie once, and that was when I was a boy, I swear it."

"Fine..." the green-haired boy grit his teeth in annoyance.

Monica cracked a smile. "We could write the greatest 'Yo Mama' jokes in that insult book that the Plastics own!"

"It's called the Burn Book," Adam sighed. "Not that I would know. But I think it might be."

From the other end of the table, Daniel stood up. He eyed the other team, who were marching towards the mess hall. Although he felt a sense of relief that Oliver was okay and able to compete, their way of walking towards their with equipment looked troublesome. "Look, if we want the mess hall for ourselves, let's go there before the other team claims it."

* * *

**Team Icterine**

"I'm telling you all," Olivia smiled. "I was voted best designer in my school three years running. I could easily transform the mess hall into a restaurant within a few hours."

"How about one hour?" Dustin asked. "We don't have that much time."

"Maybe. If all of you were to contribute some help with the more medial tasks, I could easily sculpt an ice fountain in the centre, and perhaps a small stage for a casual jazz band to play-"

"This needs to be five minutes."

"Fine..."

Jeremy gave them a quick look. "Can we do this fast? I really want to-"

His sentence was cut off by the arrival of Team Pink to the foot of the restaurant, carrying their own film equipment and props as well. Arlene was at the head of the group, and she smiled. "We're going to be using this mess hall, if you would be so kind."

Genevive was the only one not carrying anything. She opened the door to the mess hall for her team, and placed a single foot inside. "Consider this building used by us now."

"We claimed it first," Faith added. "I remember; it was at exactly twenty-one minutes ago that we decided on this. Now it's twenty-one minutes and ten seconds."

Sapphire, however, ignored the hipster, and entered through the second door, with a small desk in his hands. Arlene, Monica, Dana, and a few others followed as well. "We're using it," Monica gave a smug expression. "Deal with it."

"We need it! We can't film our scene outdoors!" Maury cried out.

Daniel gave an empathetic shrug. "We can't film our scene outdoors either."

"What are you doing?" Olivia asked, glaring at their props. "Judging by what you all have, I'd say it has something to do with a school."

Monica sneered. "Judging by the fact that you're holding a chisel, I'd... actually, I don't know what you're doing. And neither do you, huh? Let me give you some advice - you should rethink your story, considering you won't be using a mess hall for it."

Bri was getting rather annoyed by all of this. Did they really need the full mess hall? The stage for actors was never more than three walls, and the fourth would be unnecessary. "We'll just take this half," she told Arlene, stepping into the rightmost half of the mess hall.

"Deal," Rickie nodded in agreement. "How are you doing? We talked a little yesterday, but since we were put in different teams, I didn't really say anything."

"I'm good, thanks for asking."

* * *

**Mess Hall**

The minutes turned to hours and the hours stretched beyond belief, and everybody worked their hardest to finish their film; having it done by dinner would be a daunting task, surely.

Maury's group - as they often called it for the remainder of the challenge - worked as a single unit, despite having nearly the entire team polarized to support either Stephen or Dustin. Maury himself took the opportunity to be a leader, the director, and even the main actor as well, something he had dreamed of his entire life. "Thanks," he'd smile to his teammates more than once. "Thanks for the chance. You guys are the best."

"We still have a challenge to win," Olivia told him. "Only then will we be the best. And undefeated, at that." And true to her word, the set did look like a restaurant, although they had no time to carve a sculpture made of ice, as she had hoped. Maury accepted the role as the main character, with Bri the first to nominate him. Everybody else agreed with no exceptions. Bri and Stephen were chosen as the couple by their teammates as well. Oliver was originally supposed to be the boyfriend, but everybody agreed that he would look ridiculous wearing a helmet in a black-and-white film.

Meanwhile, Team Pink was not as successful, but they still had it down. Despite Clarissa having suggested the whole idea, it was Adam who led the group due to his suspiciously vast knowledge on the film. "I only watched it once, I swear it," he'd say whenever somebody would ask him about it. Although L.B. was unhappy about the entire idea, she came along to cooperate and play her role, if only for the sake of the team.

With little more than an hour before the movies were due, Oliver smiled. "End scene!" A roar of applause came from the other members of Team Icterine, as they congratulated each other on finishing. All of them huddled together and watched the full five minutes on the camera. Many of the members of Team Pink looked enviously at the other team.

"We have to focus, come on!" Arlene had told them again.

"Go Team Pink!" Clarissa cheered them on. Although they went back to filming the rest of their movie, the fact that the other team could start editing by now brought their morale down. "Go, go, go!"

After watching all of it, the group applauded once again, congratulating each other on it. But still, they still needed it edited. "Where's Chris?" one of them had asked.

"He's off eating lobster, or something... We need to find Rupert," Stephen replied, leaning against the wall of the mess hall. He shivered when he realized that Chris would force them to clean up the mess hall, which would take quite some time.

The intern appeared out of the door, looking around. "Did somebody call my name?" He eyed their video camera and said, "You're done?"

"Where's the laptop we need to use to edit this?" Jeremy asked. "Please?"

Rupert did nothing but point outside. "Both of them are in the campgrounds. The one for you is in a gold colour, so load up that CD on there and you can use the editing software." He turned his head towards Team Pink. "You guys close to finishing?"

Clarissa appeared to turn the camera off, and nodded. "We just finished the last scene!"

Monica smiled. "Alright, pass me the camera so we could watch all of it... why are you recording right now? She checked in the camera's memory for their scenes, but none of them appeared. "You... you didn't record any of the scenes we did!"

Clarissa stuttered as she spoke, "I - I thought the camera was already recording when you handed it to me! That's what the red light's for!"

"The red light means it's _not_ recording! The green light means it's recording!" Monica retorted. She groaned. "Alright, let's start over."

* * *

**Team Icterine**

"This is actually really simple," Olivia smiled as she used the editing software on the laptop. Of course, there was no internet, but it never crossed the minds of anybody. Making the whole movie in black-and-white by itself was simple enough, and she mixed the audio files to make their voices clearer. "I was voted best video editor in my school for three years now."

Attached to the laptop was a wire that connected to the camera. All of their video files were transported instantly.

Soon afterward, Team Pink got to editing their video as well, but they had a significant time disadvantage. Regardless of how good Monica was at video editing, time left them with many constraints, as Olivia had assured her teams. "And that's why we'll win," she smiled.

By the time dinner was prepared (and the debut of their films), Chris' voice was heard over the public announcer, his voice spread across the island. "Alright campers, please report to the mess hall for your movies!"

"Save it onto the CD," Maury instructed. Olivia did as told, clicking on the save button. The screen started to behave erratically. A blue screen turned to a bright red, and then a pure black, and the laptop itself shut down as the file saved. "What? No!"

Some of the members of Team Icterine started to panic, but Dustin kept a cool face. "Try turning it on again; perhaps it actually did save on the CD." Olivia had lightly tapped the power button, but nothing happened. And then she began jamming and smacking the button desperately, until Oliver stopped her.

"This is bull!" she screamed, tossing the laptop on the ground. "The computer glitched!"

Chris came out of the mess hall. Team Pink had come in a while ago, unhappy about their final product, but at least they came in with one. Team Icterine was just standing there, looking at the laptop. "Hey, are you guys finished? We have a panel of judges who are prepared to grade your movies to determine a winner."

Genevive turned. "The laptop suddenly turned off! It went from blue to red to black, and it's not turning on again! Just as we were saving it!"

At first, the host seemed confused. Then he began to laugh. "Oh, that means that the laptop's out of battery! Ha, sucks for you guys! So... you didn't save it on time?"

* * *

**(Confessional Cam)**

Oliver: "What kind of laptop has an hour of battery?"

* * *

"No," Oliver grit his teeth, "we didn't."

Chris turned back inside the mess hall. They heard his words clearly, and the cheers inside. "Due to technical difficulties concerning Team Hipster-Gold, Team Pink wins the challenge!"

Many of the teammates on Team Icterine groaned upon hearing that, most believing that they were cheated. "That's not fair!" one of them yelled at Chris. The host only shrugged. And so most of the members of Team Icterine went inside the mess hall, but Maury walked to the beaches.

Once inside, they saw the mess hall converted into a stage with a projected on one of the walls. Amazingly enough, a few workers came and cleaned everything for them. Team Pink was sitting on half of the chairs, all smiling among themselves, some cheering, and other grinning by seeing Team Icterine's facial expressions. Chris stood up, "Well, we can still watch Team Pink's film, if you guys want..."

"We're good," Arlene gave a smile.

"Well, have fun, Team Pink." Chris looked at Team Icterine. "I'll see you in two hours flat, at the bonfire. Don't be late."

* * *

**Team Pink: Girl's Cabin**

"To a well earned victory," Monica smiled. "To Team Pink!"

"Go Team Pink!" Clarissa cheered.

Dana laughed. "I'm glad we decided to just stay quiet, even though our laptop ran out of battery as well! That really was a close one! But-"

"We won," Arlene interrupted. "And that's all that matters. But we still have plenty of challenges to go, and we can't rely on blind luck. The other team is pretty talented in most areas, and their movie sounded much better than the one we made."

"Fine," Monica smiled. "To luck!"

"To luck!" every girl on Team Pink said together, with the exception of L.B.. Instead, she simply sat on her bed, silent. _We shouldn't have done this stupid movie_, she thought bitterly to herself. It was awful, as she had told them multiple times, but nobody listened. Nobody wanted to listen. Perhaps it was, in all, a good thing, considering they won the challenge in the end._  
_

Her thoughts were interrupted when Sapphire opened the door. It was slightly open before, as the cabin was stuffy, so nobody really minded. He looked around. "Arlene, I need to talk to you."

* * *

**Team Pink: Boy's Cabin**

Daniel and Rickie were talking about what seemed like the most random things to Adam. The latter did not particularly mind not being in the conversation at all and he was beginning to grow used to being excluded and invisible to his teammates. Adam simply listened to their conversation while keeping his own thoughts about the day. That was when it crossed his mind.

He looked at his teammates, the first time he turned his head since Sapphire left for no apparent reason. "Daniel, why did Chris ask us all of those questions when Oliver got injured?"

Daniel shrugged. "Why are you asking? You think that Chris could sue us or something?"

"What if Oliver had an actual injury? Would that remove us from the competition? We were just trying to help, but we still hurt him."

"You'll be fine," Rickie sighed. "You were only trying to help, and he was able to compete in the rest of the challenge. He's lucky to be wearing the helmet."

Maybe it really was lucky for Oliver that he came away unscathed. But Adam's words somewhat scared Daniel, and he laid down, thinking about them.

* * *

**Team Icterine: Faith**

_Decisions to make_, Faith thought grumpily to herself. She did little, simply sitting on a rock, in a deep state of thinking. _We should have won the challenge, something is wrong..._ But what? Did a laptop really run out of battery after an hour? Why was there no indication that it was low battery? Regardless, they were going to vote somebody off. Even though she was, without a doubt, safe from elimination tonight, she still had to decide.

Dustin had most of the team following him without too many questions. _He believes I follow him as well_, as she had told herself a dozen times before. No, Faith does not follow anybody. She does what's best for herself. Stephen would probably be talking to as many people as he can, trying to convince them that Dustin was nothing but trouble to the team, but she suspected that they all would not budge.

Oliver would vote with Dustin, and so would Olivia. Genevive and Stephen would vote together, but who else could they ally with? Jeremy, Maury, Bri were the real wild cards right now, which is strange; Faith considered herself quite able at telling somebody's personality immediately, and all three of them could easily count as normal.

"Faith!" a voice called out. She did not bother turning around. Faith knew the voice well enough. "Faith, I need to talk to you."

"What do you want, Stephen?"

Although she did not look at him, she could tell that Stephen shifted slightly. "I know my word might not mean much, but I know just as well as you do that Dustin-"

"Is trouble," she finished the sentence.

He nodded. "Look, we already have Jeremy voting with us, so that's three votes against Oliver, Dustin, and Olivia. If you vote with us, then we'll be at five, after Genevive convinces Bri to join us. Please, you need to vote with us," he whispered. "I _really _don't want to be the first person voted off."

Faith could not help but turn upon hearing that. "I told you already, being voted out first isn't a bad thing. Chances are, most of us will be eliminated right in the middle, where we're just a face among a dozen. But the first person voted out is still in everybody's memory for being, well, the first person eliminated."

"That's garbage, and you know it," Stephen sighed. "Please, you need to vote with us."

"I'll think on it."

* * *

**Team Icterine: Dustin and Maury**

It did take him quite a while, but Dustin finally found Maury. He was not in the cabin, as he might have expected. And none of their teammates knew where he was either. With Maury voting with him, Dustin would make the majority of the team, and anybody that would think otherwise could be eliminated with no worries.

Maury seemed like a statue, the way that he sat on the beach. He held his knees together with his arms, and he did little but look at the sand. And Dustin decided to approach him. If nothing else, this would be a nice way for him to learn more about the would-be actor.

"Maury?" he whispered. "Maury, are you okay?"

Maury turned his head to look at Dustin, and turned it back to the sand. "It's all my fault," he grumbled.

"What's your fault?"

"The challenge. It was my fault. We shouldn't have had to make it fancy by rendering everything in black-and-white, and it was me who decided to keep on editing after we were finished by mixing audio files. I was the reason we couldn't save the movie on time." He paused. "It was me, and I accept the blame. If you vote me out, I'd understand. I'd do the same thing as well."

"It's not your fault-"

"It is, it's my fault. I screwed this up for us, and I'm sorry."

What? Dustin could not understand this. Everybody would be equally responsible, and if anything, it was Maury who helped the team the most today. _He's too hard on himself_, Dustin realized. For a moment, Dustin thought to pity the actor, but decided against it. But mercy would not be too bad, as long as the manipulator could gain something out of it. "Look, you may have screwed up this challenge, but you've also proven yourself a leader today. Without you, we would never have been as close as we were. Don't act like you would win every challenge for us. You don't have that, but you have potential."

It was here that Maury turned his head, but Dustin continued, "Some of the others have been talking about voting you off, but I've been trying to talk them away from it because you can succeed, and today was only a demonstration of your abilities."

"You - you think so?"

"Without a doubt, you, Maury, are a leader, and the best one we'll probably have. And I want you to stay on the island, but you need to do something."

"What do I need to do?"

"Right now, Stephen, Genevive and two more contestants I do not know of are planning on voting you out. They were trying to convince me to go along with it, but I refused. If the other five of us vote against Stephen, you can stay, and achieve your goals. I don't want to see you as the first person off this island; you're better than that. You know it as well as I do."

Maury turned back to the sand. "Stephen - Stephen wants to vote me out?"

"He's been trying to convince everybody. He acts friendly, but he's a liar. Nothing more than that."

The actor paused. "Fine, I'll vote with you."

* * *

**Bonfire Ceremony**

The night was dark, the moon perched low. Although uncertain, some of the campers thought they heard a wolf howl. And in front of them were nine stumps of wood, each neatly carved for a person to sit on. Stephen, Bri, Dustin, and Olivia took the front row, while Genevive, Maury, Oliver, Jeremy, and Faith were in the back row. And in front of the Dock of Shame was another stump, larger than the other ones. It was behind this one that Chris stood, holding a tray with eight marshmallows.

"Glad to see you here," Chris gave a sadistic smile. "I really did think your group would absolutely dominate Team Pink, to be honest. And that would be no fun."

Olivia stood up. "It was a damn glitch in _your_ software! We should have won that!"

Chris only shrugged, and turned. Chef and Amy were to his right, in case the eliminated contestant would be resistant to getting on the boat. "There are nine of you here, and only eight marshmallows. The camper that does not receive a marshmallow will walk the Dock of Shame, board the Boat of Losers, and head off, never to return to this island. Ever. Any questions?"

"Will you just call the names already?" Bri asked.

"Alright, fine. Bri, you got no votes." She smiled catching it. Others eyed enviously as she bit into the marshmallow. "Same with Oliver. But Oliver would have been exempt from any votes anyways, considering he missed part of the challenge due to injuries inflicted by two other people."

"What's going to happen to the two people who injured me?" Oliver asked.

Chris shrugged. "As punishment, they have to clean out the boy's washroom, but the punishment is light because they did not know. Next time this happens, the consequence will be worse. Anyways, Maury is safe as well, with no votes against you. Faith and Olivia also have no votes."

"Where's my marshmallow?" Genevive demanded.

Chris gave a smile. "Jeremy, Stephen, Dustin and Genevive: all four of you have gathered votes." Jeremy seemed surprised, as did Genevive, but Dustin and Stephen were expecting it. "Jeremy, come collect your marshmallow."

"Seriously, you're tormenting me," Genevive grumbled. "Hand me my damn marshmallow already!"

"Genevive, here's your marshmallow." Chris turned his attention to Dustin and Stephen, the only two without marshmallows.

_Please_, Stephen thought desperately to himself, _please Faith, vote for Dustin._ Perhaps it was wrong to ask her, and his attention could have been put into Bri instead. Perhaps she would have been less stubborn, and he would not be in this situation.

"Dustin and Stephen, one of you two will be the first person voted out of Total Drama Paradise. And the last marshmallow goes to..."

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"Dustin." Chris' face looked solemn and serious. "Stephen, time to go home. We'll have your bags delivered in the morning."

Slowly, Stephen stood up. He didn't know what to think, or what to do. His heart and his mind pleaded for him to say something - anything - but his feet simply walked towards the Dock of Shame. _How could this happen__? _he thought to himself. _This wasn't supposed to be how it happened. _He was supposed to win it all, no matter who stood in his way. But now...

Step by step, the only sounds were his, and the cackling of the bonfire. The other campers were silent, anxious to see what would happen, and how he would react. _They're waiting for me to explode_, he realized. _No, I'm better than that._ Then he turned around, and locked eyes with Dustin. The manipulator had won, but he still could not accept it. Dustin simply smiled at him, and pointed towards the Boat of Losers. Every other camper just watched, their faces blank. He could have yelled in frustration, cursing at Dustin and everybody blind enough to follow him. Stephen could have broken down emotionally, perhaps even crying.

But instead, he smiled.

And that smile turned to laughter.

"Umm..." Chris paused, not knowing what to think. "You okay?"

Stephen continued to laugh for another moment. And then it died down. "It's funny, don't you get it?"

"...No."

"Even though I knew I was on the chopping block, I just thought to myself that everything would turn out great, and that I would still make it to the finale and win. But I'm here, the first person voted out of Total Drama." He smiled once again. "I'm going to be so much more popular than most of you, who make it only to the middle, a single face among a dozen others. I'll be just as popular as anybody in the final four, but I don't have to go through the food and the challenges!"

Genevive shook her head. "What makes you think that?"

That certainly brought Stephen back to reality. He paused, and looked confused. "I - I don't know why I think that. But I figured that being happy about it would be better, wouldn't it? I may not have won, but I'll still be remembered by all the fans! I'm still going to be famous!"

"Crazy, definitely crazy," Maury whispered to Bri, who could not help but smile.

Stephen paused once more, and looked at the Boat of Losers. And then he turned to look at his teammates - his eyes could not help but look mainly at the ones that voted him off. "Oliver, you're a nice guy. Make it far, I'll be rooting for you. Olivia... keep on trying, I guess?"

"I will," she replied in a monotone voice. "I never stop trying."

"Maury, you keep on working for your dreams. One day you'll be more famous than any of us." Maury awkwardly nodded, and pretended to be sincere. _But it's all lies,_ Maury thought to himself. Stephen was, in the end, the person who wanted to vote him off. "Faith... I don't know what say to you."

Faith remained silent, and only shifted on her seat. "I told you that being voted off would be nice."

"It is. Dustin..." Stephen's eyes locked with the manipulator's. "You played a great game, I'll give you that much. No matter how much I tried, I just could not lie my way to being as good as you."

"I don't lie," Dustin scoffed. "I was only protecting Maury."

Stephen turned around to leave. But then, a voice arose from the crowd. "Wait!" Faith yelled out. "I quit instead!"

Chris raised a brow. "Why?"

Faith stood up, and pushed Stephen out of the way. "You don't understand, I need to be eliminated first, before it becomes mainstream. You all are sheep, mindless sheep that will be fed into the slaughter that is this bonfire ceremony. I'm no sheep," she hissed. Faith looked at Stephen. "You're probably the least sheep-like person here."

He scratched the back of his head. "Umm... thanks, I guess?"

Chris coughed rather loudly. "Well that's great and all, but you cannot just quit without Stephen agreeing to allow you to be the first person eliminated, and he can stay in the competition."

Faith looked at the sarcastic teen. "Do not deny me this."

He laughed, and shrugged. "I was only acting happy about being eliminated so I wouldn't look like a complete loser. But if you want to take my place, then please, go ahead."

"Thank you." Faith hugged him. "My social superiority compared to yours prevents us from being friends, but I will gladly name you an acquaintance of mine." She let go of him, and walked towards the Dock of Shame. But before she left, she turned around, "The laptop did not run out of battery. One of you sabotaged it so the other team could win. One of you is a traitor to this team. Heed my words." And with that, she left.

Stephen turned around, triumphant. Most of his teammates were confused with what happened, although he understood it clearly: she decided to quit, if only to keep him in the game for a second chance. Dustin's eyes were as wide as his gaping mouth.

* * *

**(Confessional Cam)**

Dustin: "What? That... did not go according to plan. At all."

Bri: "I think that was sweet of her to quit so Stephen could stay. Even if Faith _is_ completely crazy."

* * *

**Team Pink: Adam**

"Both of you are expected to have the boy's washroom spotless by the time the rest of us wake up, got it, punks?" Chef's burly voice rang in Adam's head as he wiped the windows with water and a cloth. "You're only gettin' off light 'cause you didn't know. Don't do it again!"

Adam held up true to his word, and furiously cleaned up the washroom well into the night. Daniel, however did not show up... Perhaps he was wrong to think of Daniel and Rickie as friends. They never asked him anything, and seemed to avoid talking to him. Even now, Daniel did not show up to clean the washroom, even though he was punished as well.

The boy's washroom itself was rather dirty and fly infested. There were random marking on the wall, and some of them appeared to be in blood, for some reason. But it all scrubbed away just the same. About halfway through he finally heard another person's footsteps, even though it was the middle of the night.

"Daniel, you're late," Adam grumbled. "I'm already halfway done, but you can help out."

"It's me, Sapphire. I told Daniel that I'll help you out instead."

Adam turned his head and looked at Sapphire suspiciously. "Why?"

The villain picked up another piece of cloth, wet it, and helped to clean up. "Because I wanted to say sorry. I'm sorry for what I did to you in the morning, and I'm sorry for being such a jerk. Can you forgive me?"

"No. After what you've done-"

"I want to change," Sapphire sighed. "I really do. And I need your help. Please, I want to be a nicer person."

"What?"

Sapphire gave a stare at Adam. "I came here in the middle of the night to help you, even though I didn't need to. All I'm asking for is your forgiveness."

"Will you stop with these pranks?" Sapphire nodded. "Do you swear it?"

"I swear it!"

Adam scoffed. "I'll forgive you once I see it. But helping me is a good start, so start scrubbing."

* * *

**(Confessional Cam)**

Sapphire: "Kissing up to Adam is definitely not the most respectable thing I've ever done, but Arlene says that I need to convince him not to vote for me. And to keep myself in the competition, I'll have to do whatever it takes. But in the end, Adam, Arlene, and everybody else is still going to lose, after I win it all."

* * *

**(Voting Cam)**

Stephen: "Here's hoping that Dustin will be eliminated before he becomes a problem."

Dustin: "I'm voting for Stephen, if that isn't obvious by now."

Olivia: "Stephen has talked to me about voting off Dustin, and Dustin wants me to vote off Stephen. I never really knew Stephen, and although Dustin and I have the same last name, I'm going to have to remove the weakest players on this team. Sorry Jeremy."

Jeremy: "I promised Genevive that I would vote off Dustin. I really don't want to, but I'm afraid of what would happen if she finds out..."

Faith: "In the end, I do what's best for me. And right now, I feel that siding with Dustin is best, so my vote goes to Stephen."

Maury: "Dustin told me that Stephen's actually changing his vote to Dustin so I wouldn't suspect him! The nerve of that guy!"

Bri: "Genevive seems pretty disruptive on the team, especially since she's been bugging me to vote for Dustin. Forget that; I vote for Genevive to leave."

Genevive: "If everything goes according to plan, Stephen, Faith, Jeremy, Bri, and I will have Dustin voted out."

Oliver: "Dustin tells me that Stephen is bad news. Hey, I'd believe the guy, since Dustin is THE nicest guy here by far!"

* * *

**Votes**

Stephen: 4

Dustin: 3

Jeremy: 1

Genevive: 1

* * *

**Character Profile: Faith**

Stereotype:

The Hipster

Memorable Quotes:

"I don't believe in labels," Faith commented. "Nobody can be described using symbols, or names, we are all too unique for that to happen." (Episode 1, Part 1)

"Gold is too mainstream." (Episode 1, Part 1)

She turned around, hissing. "No, you don't understand," Faith replied in a hostile tone. "I _need_ to take the bottom bunk before it becomes cool." (Episode 1, Part 2)

"Dustin's nice and all, but hanging out with him is way too mainstream; I was doing it _before _it became cool. I need to find a new partner, and Stephen is underrated as a part of my potential clique partners." (Episode 2, Part 1)

"They're the enemy, all of them." (Episode 2, Part 1)

"You don't make sense," Faith hissed. "Nobody makes sense." (Episode 2, Part 1)

"They're all labels, products of society and the future of our world. Grey people, with grey personalities and hive minds, and the only thing vibrant are their fashion senses. They need labels," she hissed, "to guide them and tell them who they are. All of them - and all of you as well. You're exactly as society wants you, and that's labelled." (Episode 2, Part 2)

"We claimed it first," Faith added. "I remember; it was at exactly twenty-one minutes ago that we decided on this. Now it's twenty-one minutes and ten seconds." (Episode 2, Part 2)

Faith stood up, and pushed Stephen out of the way. "You don't understand, I need to be eliminated first, before it becomes mainstream. You all are sheep, mindless sheep that will be fed into the slaughter that is this bonfire ceremony. I'm no sheep," she hissed. Faith looked at Stephen. "You're probably the least sheep-like person here." (Episode 2, Part 2)

Friends:

Stephen and Dustin

Enemies:

The World

* * *

**~End Episode 2, Part 2~**

**Team Pink:** Clarissa, Daniel, Rickie, Monica, Adam, Arlene, Sapphire, Dana, L.B. (9 remaining)

**Team Icterine:** Dustin, Oliver, Bri, Stephen, Faith, Genevive, Maury, Olivia, Jeremy (8 remaining)

_Elimination Order: Faith_

* * *

So, how was this chapter? Like the other ones, it totalled about 9,000 words, even though I rushed a few parts, mainly because this chapter dragged on forever. Hope you liked it!

At the end, I decided to make a Voting Cam, which shows you who each contestant voted for. Also, at the very end, I decided to include quick character biographies on the contestant eliminated that chapter. It mainly shows the best quotes he/she had, and I hope that as you enjoyed it. Faith had some better quotes than I remembered, and quite a few considering she's been here only two episodes. But alas, she was designed by me to be the first contestant eliminated, but as I kept writing her, I found her more and more amusing (remember, I never made an app for her, so I made her up as I went).

How was the bonfire ceremony? I thought I did a pretty good job on it, and it really does represent the unpredictability that this series has. It was so obvious that Stephen would not be voted off, even though Dustin was planning on it, so I hoped that by actually voting him off that you would be surprised. And then more surprised when Faith volunteers instead.

Yeah, sorry to Team Pink, but this chapter was Team Icterine-centric, and I'm sorry for that. I'm hoping to make it more balanced in the future, but what can I say? My own character is on that team, and so many of the characters that I like. But regardless, I hope there was enough exposure of everybody.

Remember, please review, because at this point, no OC is safe!


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